


Love on a Fairy's Wing

by roxasfanfics



Series: Oneshot Collections [4]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Cutesy, F/M, Oneshot, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2019-11-28 06:17:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18204644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roxasfanfics/pseuds/roxasfanfics
Summary: A collection of oneshots from the fandom of Fairy Tail.DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters presented in these stories, aside from my OCs. Those rights belong exclusively to Hiro Mashima.





	1. Foreword

Hello everyone! Welcome to my oneshot collection for Fairy Tail,  _Love on a Fairy's Wing!_ It includes a variety of stories, from passionate romances to tales of friendship, and I hope everyone enjoys reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. If you have migrated here from  _Cuddle Corner,_ thank you for sticking with me; if you are new, welcome and enjoy what I have here! In either case, happy reading!

I do take prompts/pairing and story requests (in fact, I love them, so please feel free to request!). However, there are a couple of guidelines to keep in mind:

  * If a prompt is submitted, I do not guarantee that I will agree to write it. If I feel uncomfortable at the prompt or otherwise feel like I do not possess enough information to adequately complete the prompt, it is my right to politely refuse to take the prompt. If the prompt is from a series that I have not read/seen, it is likely that I will place the prompt on hold until I have done so. If the prompt is from an anime filler arc, I may refuse or require a short explanation of the filler arc to provide me with enough detail to complete the prompt. Please respect my choice as an author to refuse prompts. 
  * Most of the stories I write are male/female, mostly because this is what I am comfortable writing. However, if you wish to suggest a female/female or male/male prompt, please feel free to do so. I don't discriminate against such pairings and will most likely write them if requested, it is just unlikely that I will do so spontaneously. Again, please respect my decision as the author to refuse to write a pairing if I cannot draw appropriate inspiration.
  * Finally, this is  _not_ a place for smut. I respect people who read and/or write it, but I am not one of those people, so please do not request anything that is NSFW.



Below is also a list of my other oneshot collections. Please do stop by if any of them pique your interest! Is there a fandom you love not represented? Please recommend it to me! I love new things to read. 

  * The Bonds that We Hold Dear (Naruto)
  * Tales of Connected Souls (Bleach)
  * Tales from the Four Tribes (Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: The Legend of Korra)
  * Equivalent Exchange: My Life for Yours (Fullmetal Alchemist)
  * Love Burning Bright (Blue Exorcist)
  * Tales of the Dawning Sun (Yona of the Dawn)
  * Love on the High Seas (One Piece)
  * Tales of Resonating Souls (Soul Eater)
  * Tales from Ouran High (Ouran High School Host Club)




	2. Index

**Chapter One:** Two Hearts Become One _(Gray/Lucy)_

 **Chapter Two:**  I'll Take Care of You  _(Gray/Lucy)_

 **Chapter Three:** When It Counts  _(Lucy)_

 **Chapter Four:** Keep Me Warm  _(Natsu/Lucy)_

 **Chapter Five:** Heartbeat _(Gray/Lucy)_

 **Chapter Six:** One for the Memories _(Gray/Lucy/Juvia/Lyon)_

 **Chapter Seven:** Stars in Your Eyes _(Lucy/Natsu)_


	3. Two Hearts Become One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Hello, everyone! I am pleased to announce the addition of two new oneshot collections, Tales of Ouran High (Ouran High School Host Club) and Tales of Resonating Souls (Soul Eater)! Though no stories have been posted as of yet, feel free to head on over and leave a request!

Category: Romantic Fluff

Characters: Lucy Heartfilia and Gray Fullbuster

Requested by: farrah87 (Ao3)

Lucy sighed forlornly as she sat at one of the tables within the Fairy Tail guild, lamentedly swirling the drink in her cup around and around and around. With one sudden cry, she slammed the drink down against the wooden surface and immediately followed suit with her forehead.

“I’m so bored!” she whined miserably. Her normal partner, Natsu, had been recruited by Lisanna for a job because _her_ normal partner Elfman was on a job by himself. Erza had basically bullied Wendy in taking a job with her because it required the use of her stat-boosting and wind magic abilities, and despite her attempts to be included on the mission, Lucy had been forced to remain behind on account of Erza’s desire to “have one-on-one time with the impressionable little girl.” As usual, Lucy had no idea what was going on in the legendary warrior’s head. She _could_ take a mission with someone else, she supposed, but it was just odd; it was either Natsu, or everyone on the team, and nothing else. _I don’t know if I can take any more of this boredom any longer, though._

“Hey, Lucy.” The miserable girl raised her head when prompted, her lips still pursed into a sad pout. Gray was standing beside her with one hand in his coat pocket and the other holding up a piece of paper- a job. “Want to go on this job with me?” Lucy’s unhappy expression immediately morphed to one of curiosity and confusion. Gray never asked her personally to take jobs; Juvia was his regular partner, and her jealous streak was enough of an annoyance for him to usually refrain from asking other female mages to take jobs with him just to save him the trouble of dealing with her. Even as Lucy took the job description to inspect it, she could feel the rain-woman’s animosity brewing across the room. _I bet she’s glaring daggers at me,_ she thought with a weird combination of a smirk and deep frown. “I figured you would be a good person to ask because you know so much about books,” Gray explained as she read over the request.

“A cursed book?” According to the description from a local shopkeeper, a magical book had landed in his inventory and he had been unable to get rid of it ever since. Every time he sold it, the customer would return it within days, sometimes hours, claiming it had cursed magical properties. Apparently, it had caused all sorts of problems, from temporary transformations to plagues of bad luck to making animals talk. He was at his wit’s end and wanted a wizard to remove the curse so he could sell it once and for all. “It does sound like an interesting job.” Though curses weren’t something she cared to investigate, a book was enough to get her on board. “Let’s go right now!” she grinned and hopped out of her seat. In her excitement, she grabbed Gray’s hand to tote him along out of the guild, leaving Juvia seething with jealous rage in a corner until Gajeel knocked her in the head because she was disturbing his lyric-writing (which he probably needed to be interrupted because he was terrible at it).

Lucy was on cloud nine as she strolled down the streets of Magnolia Town, both at the prospect of investigating a magical tome and having a job to do in general. As she hummed happily under her breath, she wasn’t even aware that she was still holding Gray’s hand, or that he was pink-cheeked and looking anywhere but her because of it. She paused in the middle of the street to peer at the crudely-drawn map that had been included in the job request describing the shop’s location. “Let’s see… I think we take this turn here, and then a left, go down for three blocks, and make a right,” she murmured and then looked at Gray to ensure he was listening. She narrowed her eyebrows when she discovered that he was not. “Hey, Gray, are you listening?”

“Oh, my, look at them. Such a cute couple.” A bystander’s comment distracted her from her scolding, and she looked to the side of the street to see two older women chuckling to themselves.

“Ah, young love. It’s so wonderful,” her partner agreed with a wistful sigh. Lucy turned red from her toes to the top of her head, finally realizing that her hand still enclosed that of the ice wizard, and she hurriedly retracted it like he had burned her terribly. Finally, he was able to look at her, and when he saw she was blushing so fiercely he turned a whole shade darker.

“Hey, what’s the matter? You got a fever or something?” he spat and turned his face away again, but after a second he couldn’t help but peer at her out of his peripheral vision. “If you’re sick, we shouldn’t go on this mission! I’ll ask someone else!”

“I’m not sick!” she spat back but turned another hue of red. Lucy didn’t want him to think her embarrassed, and she definitely didn’t want him to ask someone else to go. Strangely, she wanted him to ask Juvia least of all, though they worked well together. _Gray and I work well together too!_ “Speak for yourself! You’re turning red too!”

“Am not!” His face was the color of a ripe apple. “I-it’s just really sunny, that’s all! The sun is making us burn!” Without further ado, he grabbed her by her upper arm and yanked her sideways underneath the shady awning of a building, but inadvertently pulled her into him; as her nose bumped against his chest, she let out a surprised squeak while her face continued to explore every possible shade of red it could turn. Gray gasped and hurriedly stepped back, but put excessive distance between them and tripped backwards over a box. Lucy jumped as his red face were replaced by his feet, because he had tripped and fallen into an empty box behind it. “Wh-what the hell? I’m stuck!” he whined loudly as he tried pulling himself out of the tiny wooden structure to no avail. Still pink and embarrassed, Lucy could not help but burst into giggles seeing him red-faced with his behind crammed in a crate. “Lucy! It’s not funny! Get me out!” _He’s so cute!_

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” she mused and crouched down beside him to grab his arm. She was painfully aware of the feeling of his sculpted muscles beneath his coat sleeve as she stood and pulled hard. It took a few tries, but she was able to detach the ice wizard from the box. For a second, they both stood there beneath the cloth awning with identical blushes. _What the heck just happened? Why did we get all flustered like that?_ She then whirled on her heel and coughed awkwardly. “R-right! To the shop!”

Somehow they were able to make it to the second-hand book shop with no more crazy incidents. A little bell rang to signal their arrival as they walked inside. “Hello? We’re mages from Fairy Tail!” she called into the depths of the shop when she noticed no one was at the counter. Truthfully, Lucy cared little about the job in the moment, because her attention was captured by the piles and shelves of dusty tomes. The shelves stretched to the ceiling, and were crammed with all manners of books. Small ones, large ones, ones that looked brand-new and ones that were falling out of their bindings, magical textbooks, fairy tales, cookbooks, memoirs; it took all her willpower no to just abandon Gray right there, pick up a handful of them, and retreat to a cozy nook to absorb more knowledge and stories. Before she could act on her urge, a middle-aged man came trotting out from the back of the story, stopping to bow apologetically in front of them.

“Yes, thank you for coming! My name is Pazu; I own this bookstore. You’ve come to respond to my request?”

“That’s right,” Gray agreed and stepped a little closer behind Lucy. For some reason, she could feel his body heat radiating from him and it made her shiver, but in a good way. _What is wrong with me today?_ She thought with an inward groan. The shopkeeper sank into a relieved smile.

“Oh, wonderful. Come, I have it in a case in the back of the store.” The pair of wizards followed the man to the back wall, where a large, leather-bound volume was encased in glass. Lucy’s mouth fell open in awe as soon as she saw it, it was so beautiful. It was bound in rich purple leather patterned in intricate runes that were inlaid with silver thread, and was as thick as the muscle on Gray’s arm. _Wait, that’s a weird analogy!_ While she pondered what had her brain on the fritz, the shopkeeper’s shoulders sagged and he sighed. “I picked this tome up from a traveling merchant. He said it was a book of spells, and it is, but apparently the book possesses enough magical power in itself to activate them on its own.” Indeed, when she concentrated, Lucy could sense the magical energy pouring off the book in thick waves. “The curses go off randomly. I don’t know what to do. Please help me!” he cried and bowed deeply to them.

“No problem. Let’s see what this thing is hiding,” Gray smirked and immediately swung the glass door of the case open and reached for the book. Lucy didn’t have time to cry out that it was a terrible idea; as soon as his hand landed on the rich leather binding, the book flashed with blinding white light. Both she and Gray cried out in alarm as the white light enveloped them. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bear the intense whiteness, and gasped as she felt her body begin to hum with energy. It was a strange feeling, like her molecules were disassembling and reassembling a million times a second, leaving her with pins-and-needles all over. After a few seconds, the light dimmed and the strange sensation faded, so she opened her eyes hesitantly.

The first thing she noticed is that she felt taller. She was looking down at the shopkeeper now, while before she had been nearly eye-level with him. She also felt _denser_ too, like she was packing more muscle weight. Were her clothes different too? She had been wearing a tank top, but her shirt had sleeves.

“Hey, Gr- oh!” That wasn’t her voice coming out of her. It was _Gray’s._ In a panic, she looked at her reflection in the glass case and gasped again. It wasn’t her reflection, but the dark-haired man’s. Her hands flew to her cheeks, which were not the soft cheeks of her body but the chiseled jawline of Gray. “We switched bodies!”

“God damn it!” Gray cursed, and it sounded unnatural in Lucy’s high, feminine voice.

“I told you! It’s cursed!” the shopkeeper wailed in dismay and sank to his knees. With a growl (it was strange feeling the guttural sound resonate in Gray’s chest), Lucy yanked the dusty book out of the display case and began flipping through the pages trying to find the particular spell they had activated.

“Here it is! The body-swap curse!” Lucy cried. Gray frowned (it was weird seeing such a look on her own face) as he peered over her shoulder, but was so used to being taller that he made her crouch down so he could do as normal. Lucy grimaced, lamenting the burning in her- Gray’s- knees while attempting to hold the book steady as she scanned the contents. “It says here that the only way to reverse the curse is ‘for the fighting couple to reconcile and their hearts to become one.’” The words hung in the air for a while, before the two of them glanced at each other with bristling shoulders and matching blushes.

“We aren’t a fighting couple!” Gray objected wildly. _Is that how I look when I blush? I’m adorable,_ Lucy thought for a second before she recalled the problem at hand and nodded fiercely.

“Yeah- and what is this ‘hearts become one’ nonsense?” she huffed and tried reading the passage again a few times to discern a possible hidden meaning or clue. She found none, and with a heavy sigh she sank down to the floor in with her legs stuck out on either side of her and her head hung. “We’re doomed.”

“Don’t do that girly pose in my body!” Gray snapped at her, and when she looked up at him dourly, she pointed at him while grinding her -Gray’s- teeth.

“Don’t do _that_ in _my_ body!” Gray had resorted to his signature casual stripping, and now he was in her body in just her bra and underwear. The shopkeeper had succumbed to the allure of her curvaceous body and was bleeding out of his nose onto the wooden shop floor with a contented sigh.

“What are you talking about- oh. When did that happen?”

“ _I’m doomed_.”

She and Gray sat in the second-hand shop for another hour attempting to riddle out how to break the curse before they abandoned the endeavor and decided to bring the book back to Fairy Tail for more wizened minds to investigate. Their cheeks were both dyed pink as they marched in silence down the street. Lucy kept fidgeting, not used to being taller and broader than everyone else, and thus bumping in to pretty much everyone they passed. Gray kept muttering under his breath about the lack of pockets in Lucy’s outfits, because he kept going to slide his hands into them but met only the smooth fabric of her skirt. After they were halfway there, Gray groaned loudly and threw his head back in agony.

“God damn! Lucy, how do you do it? These things are killing my back!” he whined while shamelessly jiggling her chest. The only thing that came out of Lucy’s mouth was senseless screeching gibberish as her brain short-circuited in her head.

“Don’t touch my body like that! Pervert! You pervert!” she shrieked wildly while Gray somehow managed to replicate his moody, disinterested scowl on her girlish face. As Lucy tilted back her head and cried a little bit, lamenting the unfortunate turn of events, someone shouted at them from down the street.

“Gray! Long time no see!” Lucy tilted her head slightly to see who was calling them, finding a familiar shock of bright blueish-white hair and familiar fashion sense.

“Oh. It’s Lyon.” The Lamia Scale wizard stopped a foot or two short of them, smiling brightly. “What do you want?” Gray sighed, looking far too irritated to deal with his friend at the moment. It was even stranger coming out her normally friendly self, and Lyon noticed, raising his eyebrows before turning to Gray- well, herself in Gray’s body.

“I’m here to challenge you for Juvia!”

“Do _what?_ ” they both screamed in unison, and before either of them could explain the strange body-swap curse, Lyon grinned devilishly and fell into his ice-make pose. Lucy screamed- emitting a very high-pitched sound that was several octaves higher than Gray’s normal voice- and flung to the side as a lion made of ice pounced at her with sharp claws. “No! Lyon! Wait! I’m not Gray!” she wailed miserably as she huddled on the ground, hand on her head and butt in the air.

“Lucy! You’re making me look uncool! Ice make- shit!” Gray snapped and went to perform his magic, momentarily forgetting that Lucy had no such capabilities. He snatched her keys from her belt and began jingling them around. “How the hell do you use these?”

“Don’t treat my Celestial keys like that!” Lucy snapped at them as she rolled across the street to avoid the icy lion again. As she landed, clumsily because she was a bit heavier than she was used to being, Lyon was standing in the middle of the street with his shoulders hunched in disappointment.

“Come on, Gray. You’re being no fun…”

“I told you I’m not Gray!” Lucy screeched angrily and jumped at him to slam her fist down on his head. As Lyon crouched down, whining as he cradled his head, the lion disintegrated into snow flurries and vanished. Lucy stood over him with her hands on her hips while Gray continuously bleated that she was making him look like a dork. “Gray and I have switched bodies on accident! Fight him some other time!”

“No, Lucy, I don’t want to fight him ever! It’s too much of a pain!” Gray whined in the background. Lyon looked up at her with knitted eyebrows, then at Gray in her body, the back to her in Gray’s.

“… That’s weird.”

“Yeah, I know, so do you know anything about breaking curses?”

Lyon proved exceptionally unhelpful. He was originally going to follow them to Fairy Tail, but Gray kicked him in the behind (which he validated by saying it was something she would do) and sent him packing to his hotel, both ego and body bruised. Lucy was utterly exhausted by the time they came stumbling through the door to the guild, though it was only mid-day. Lucy let out a _gak!_ as Juvia sprang out of nowhere to wrap her in a tight hug.

“My Gray! Oh, I missed you so much! Are you tired from having to put up with Lucy?” she asked with a glare at her body, and Lucy swore for a second her eyes turned as red as blood. Gray’s face- or rather, her own- was a portrait of acute disgust and embarrassment.

“Juvia, I’m Lucy. We’re under a curse,” she explained as the blue-haired woman nuzzled her shoulder affectionately, and Juvia retracted with a hiss, shoulders hunched; if she had been a cat, her ears would be flattened to her head and hackles bristling.

“What? How dare you invade my Gray’s body, Lucy! Get out! Get out right now!” she demanded and looked at her body as if she was considering being affectionate, but the sight of her, even if it was Gray’s soul inside it, was enough to make her shiver. Lucy’s shoulders hunched up to her ears.

“I didn’t do it on purpose! Trust me, I would like to get out of it as soon as possible!”

“What are you saying? Gray’s body is perfect! You should be honored to be in it!”

“Make up your mind, Juvia!” Lucy screamed and tugged at the blue-black hair of Gray’s head in frustration, then sighed heavily and hung her head. “Ugh, whatever. Come on, Gray, let’s see if Mirajane or the Master can help us.” She looked to her right and found empty space where he had been. He had obviously snuck off while Juvia was too involved arguing with her to notice. “ _Gray!_ ”

Unfortunately for the cursed mages, neither Mirajane nor the Master could offer any ideas to how to reverse the curse aside from the scripted clause. Lucy wanted to end this curse as soon as possible, so she forced Gray to accompany her to her apartment to riddle out the curse no matter how long it took. After hours of wracking her brain, Lucy flung back against the couch with an exhausted groan, watching through lidded eyes as her head bobbed up and down as Gray came dangerously close to nodding off to sleep. “Gray, this is hopeless. We’re gonna be stuck like this forever.” She ran a hand through her- his- hair and in her tired delirium appreciated the softness of the strands, fingers lingering amongst the fine fibers for a minute.

“Maybe it isn’t as complicated as you think.” She raised an eyebrow at him as he straightened up at looked at her. The serious expression he was wearing looked kind of odd on her face. “‘A fighting couple has to reconcile and their hearts become one,’ right?”

“Yeah, but Gray, you and I aren’t really fighting about anything, and we aren’t a couple.”

“Maybe that’s just it.” Lucy’s mouth twitched, somehow simultaneously liking and dreading where the conversation was heading. Her body betrayed Gray’s embarrassment, the cheeks of her face turning pink. “Um… Maybe… The problem is that we’re fighting each other about being honest to one another.” He tilted his head to the side and scratched his head, a very Gray gesture. Lucy didn’t know what he meant, or maybe she did, and the thought of it frightened her a little. Her gaze drifted to the bottom corners of her eyes, a natural gesture when she was uncomfortable.

“Gray, I don’t think I understand what you mean…” No, she _did_ understand, deep down; she wanted to deny it still, or maybe she didn’t and just wanted Gray to be the one to say it, because she just didn’t have the courage to say it herself. She couldn’t straight; her mind was simultaneously blank and whirling with a million thoughts, landing on strange things like how sexy Gray looked all the time whether he was clothed or not, how sometimes she wished Gray was her partner instead of Natsu even though Natsu was her best friend in the entire world because the thought of Juvia spending all that time alone with him drove her insane, about how some nights she would lay in bed staring out the window at the stars wondering if Gray was looking at those same stars and if he was wondering if Lucy was looking at those stars too, and-

“Lucy…” Somehow Gray managed to bring a mannish sultriness to her feminine voice that sent another one of those good shudders through her body, and for a moment the strange maelstrom in her mind halted so that she could focus on him. Even though it was her body that she was looking at, standing up from the opposite couch to walk around the table to stand over her with this _look_ on her face, Lucy could only recognize it as Gray. What _was_ that expression? He never looked at Juvia that way, but it was a look she had seen on him before when looking at her, this happiness mixed with careful contemplation and a little bit of hesitation, too. “Be honest with yourself.”

 _Be honest._ So simple a thing yet so complicated, too. If she was honest with herself, so much would change, every dynamic of every relationship they had; Lucy had denied it, denied it to keep the status quo, but she couldn’t deny it anymore. Gray wasn’t denying it anymore; that’s what he was telling her. It was amazing how awfully clear it was to her just then. They didn’t even have to say it out loud for the two of them to recognize it, because in that moment, their hearts and minds were one.

Lucy’s living room became enveloped with the blinding white light, and once again the strange pins-and-needles assaulted her entire body. When the magic spell faded, Lucy had to flew her hands for a moment, momentarily unable to believe that she was back in her own body. Before she could say anything, Gray grabbed her by the hips and pulled her down onto his lap, making her yelp; again, before she could say anything, his mouth had covered her own, and then she didn’t even _think_ of saying anything because there was nothing to be said. Lucy’s body melted as Gray kissed her softly, and in her euphoria, Lucy pressed herself against him, desperate to feel as much as him as she could. She could feel his heart beating beneath her own; their heartbeats beat out of tune at first, but gradually settled into a matching rhythm, a gentle synchronized cadence softly echoing as once more their hearts and minds and _souls_ aligned.

When he pulled away from her, Lucy was hesitant to do so, and her mildly flushed face hovered a few centimeters away from his. She had been longing for that moment and was admittedly a little disappointed it had been so brief. He smirked up at her. “You have that pouty look on your face again.” This made her blush further, because it meant that he took careful note of his expressions just like she did his, and that made her a little shy. “Come on, aren’t you going to say something?”

“I love you.” He was probably expecting her to say something bratty as she often did, because a look of shock came over his face. That was what she was feeling, though, and it was the only thought that dominated her mind. “I love you, Gray.” The ice wizard’s face melted into a loving smirk and he wound his arms around her waist, pulling her body against his while he looked up at her alluringly.

“I love you, Lucy.” This time, Lucy leaned in to kiss him, and he allowed it. Lucy knew everything was going to change after that, but honestly, she didn’t care; for that brief time, she just enjoyed it, the way their two hearts had become one.


	4. I'll Take Care of You

Category: Hurt and Comfort

Characters: Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Silver Fullbuster

Requested by: Star_dress03 (Ao3)

The cracked stone floor beneath Lucy as she lay there, panting and exhausted, felt icy cold, but it was still hard not to be warmed by the sight of four of her dearest friends standing protectively around her, glaring daggers at the four Tartaros members who had tried to claim her life only moments ago. Gajeel, Juvia, Gray, and Natsu… Tears of joy and relief leaked from her eyes, puddling beneath her scratched and bruised cheek. _I did it… I saved everyone._ Still, the cost had been too much… She could feel the shattered remnant of Aquarius’ key still clutched in her hand, and though it hurt to do even such a small thing, she curled her fingers around it. _Aquarius…_ she lamented silently, her bottom lip wobbling as the tears that flooded her eyes became those of sadness and guilt. _If only I was stronger…!_ Barely awake, Lucy looked up as Gray addressed one of the Tartaros members, a dark-haired man in armor with a scar across the top of his head. Maybe in her delirium, Lucy thought that the man almost resembled the Fairy Tail ice mage.

“You’re…” Hesitation crept into Gray’s voice, and he looked away uncomfortably. “No, you can’t be…” Lucy narrowed her eyebrows slightly in confusion. It couldn’t be possible that Gray knew this man somehow, could it? The other Fairy Tail members were similarly captivated by the strange ice mage.

“Come to think of it, that’s the bastard who froze the Giant’s Village!” Natsu recalled with a disdainful snort and a cross of his arms.

“His stench kinda reminds me of yours, Gray,” Gajeel frowned while sniffing the air, and after a second, Natsu joined in a muttered something about him being right. At the pair of dragon-slayers’ comments, Gray set his jaw and hesitantly took a step back from the man. Lucy could see his hands curling into fists, shaking ever so slightly. _There is definitely more to this…_ Not that Lucy was in any position to figure it out; she was at the last of her magic power, with barely the strength to perform small body movements. Whatever was between Gray and the other ice mage, they would have to sort it out for themselves…

As it turned out, that’s exactly what the older man was thinking. His white cloak flashed as he suddenly shot past Natsu to grab Gray by the arm, startling him greatly.

“This runt is mine,” he growled, and as Lucy called Gray’s name, his eyes flickered down to where she was lying only a few feet away. In a flash he was next to her, crouching down to wrap an arm around her middle while dragging Gray unceremoniously across the stone floor. “And the Celestial Mage, too.” Lucy squeaked in alarm as the man so callously and unabashedly scooped her up from the cracked stone, and she heard her friends shouting her name as their forms and the landscape blurred, and she was carried off away from the battle and into an impending one.

Lucy grunted as she was dropped onto her belly, again laying on cold, cracked stone. They had been brought to a section of the grand fortress that had already been collapsed thanks to the destructive Fairy Tail mages, and the landscape was nothing but crumbled walls and ruined parapets and crushed marble bricks. She gasped as the older ice mage flung Gray forward with little care or emotion. Gray, being in a much better state physically than she, did not simply crash into the stone but managed to perform a roll and whip around to face the man, crouching low and watching him guardedly. Lucy attempted to crawl toward Gray, her hand trembling with overexertion and, admittedly, a moderate level of fear, grasping for him though he was too far away. Lucy then screamed in pain as the ice mage firmly planted a boot in the middle of her back, effectively pinning her at his feet. “I have to admit, I had no idea that this little girl would be strong enough to destroy the Plutogrim,” he sniffed with disdain and, to cause Lucy further pain, continuously pressed his foot into her battered body. Lucy tried her best to avoid giving him the satisfaction of hearing her pained cries, but in her condition, she couldn’t refrain from letting a few whimpers slip out. The entire time, Gray hunkered against the stone glaring vicious daggers, obviously enraged but too cautious to outright attack for fear of retaliation against Lucy. “Not that it matters, anyway, all your efforts; your little pathetic guild may have destroyed _one_ Face, but that still leaves two thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine of them.” Lucy looked up in horror as a demented smirk flashed across his face. _What? That wasn’t the only one? And there are that many…?_

“Three thousand Face, huh? The council sure built one hell of a weapon,” Gray grunted. He was in much better control of his emotions, or was simply so pissed off for his treatment of Lucy that it didn’t leave much room for much else. He maintained that steady blank expression bordering on furious rage.

“I was hoping to see some despair on your face. Maybe I will if I cut out this little girl’s heart!” Still held against the ground by his body weight, Lucy could do nothing but stay frozen in fear as he threw his cloak back, the ice magic weaving frosty wind in his hand as he preparing to use it to bring Lucy to a pitiful end. _I’m going to die…!_ She thought in panic, not even having the strength to push up against his foot and mount at least some semblance of a resistance effort. Her wide, blue eyes searched for Gray, not wishing her last sight to be the murderous Tartaros wizard, and they found him right in front of her. As any icy spear formed in the wizard’s hand, rapidly plunging toward where her heart would be from behind, Gray countered by making a large icy broadsword and knocking the icy weapon aside. To avoid being cleaved in two, the Tartaros ice wizard jumped backward, leaving Lucy free. Having been met with near-death experiences several times in an unproportioned amount of time, Lucy’s stock of bravado was quite depleted, and so she didn’t try and stop the tears of relief from flooding down her cheeks.

“Gray,” she whined quietly and, using her heightened emotions to propel her body, weakly reached up to grab his pants leg, knowing she couldn’t pull herself up but still wishing to anchor herself to him in some way lest she be taken again. The icy sword disintegrated into sparkling snowy particles as he hurriedly crouched down to pull her into his arms, hopping back several yards to put ample distance between them and the ice wizard. Rather than set her down, Gray kept her tightly wrapped in his embrace as he allowed the full force of his rage show on his face; it looked like it was etched in the hardest stone, while his eyes blazed with a cool, dark fire. When he glanced down at Lucy, however, it immediately melted like snow on a warm morning, his features softening into a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry, Lucy. I’ve got you,” he told her as he reached up to brush the tangled, limp stands of hair from her scratched, pale face. “I won’t let _anybody_ hurt you anymore.” Maybe it was her raging emotions or acute exhaustion, but in that moment, everything about Gray and her relationship with him seemed to shift gears; Lucy had always thought of him as brave, like Natsu and everyone else in the guild, but there was something so impossible _heroic_ about him in that moment that it made her heart begin to pound. Her face, previously white from terror, took on a pink hue instead. The words he uttered weren’t out of place for a comrade, but there seemed to be a lot more meaning behind them than just a bond of friendship. The way he was looking at her, too, that smile and the way his eyes searched every part of her, was just too obvious. _Has he always looked at me this way?_ Lucy thought, on the border of delirium as her heart and brain struggled to find some sort of middle ground between everything that was happening to her in those few seconds. She was snapped out of her internal fit as Gray gently lowered her to the ground and stepped over her to protectively plant himself between her and the Tartaros ice mage. His hands were balled into fists as he glowered at his foe. “You bastards have put Lucy through enough hell. You’re gonna get it all back ten-fold.”

“Sounds like fun. Simply killing you would be too boring,” the mage laughed, completely unfazed by Gray’s threats.

“Enough with the bullshit. You know me, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Quite well, actually.” Lucy watched apprehensively as the pair stared each other down. Their curled smile with veiled hostility on the Tartaros wizard’s face was so like the one Gray would wear that it was frightening, almost as if they were related.

“I also know your face, and your voice. I know them, but you’re a different person. _Who are you?”_ The pieces began to click into place in Lucy’s mind as she watched the intense standoff. _No way… It can’t be! Is this man-_

“Your father.” He was so calm in saying it, but Gray was anything but calm.

“That can’t be! My father is _dead_! I saw it happen!” he shrieked, and as he waved his arm angrily, about a dozen icy blades materialized in front of him and shot towards the Tartaros wizard. Again, unfazed, he simply waved a hand to splinter them and send the icy, glass-like shards falling to his feet.

“My name is Silver Fullbuster. I _am_ your father, Gray.” Lucy just sat there huddled on the ground, nervous as she watched the twisted family reunion take place; the demon Deloria had murdered Gray’s family, but yet his father was standing right in front of them, as their enemy, no less. Gray’s rage continued to burn, and with an expression bordering on lunacy he coated his hand in ice and attempted to punch Silver in the face. Effortlessly, the man dodged it, and, when Gray tried to punch him away, just as effortlessly blasted him away with a gust of icy wind. As Gray went spinning through the air, Lucy gasped and attempted to jump up to catch him, but just fell uselessly on her face. She gritted her teeth in frustration, her eyes stinging with yet again more tears. _I’m so useless! All I can do is sit here and cry, when Gray needs my help!_

“There’s no way my father is alive!” Gray shouted angrily at Silver, making her look up. The Tartaros wizard began cackling wildly, which only served to infuriate Gray more.

“Ahahaha! That’s exactly what I thought you would look like!” he howled as Gray went into his ice make pose, but with a callous wave of his hand Silver again sent him on the defensive. _Gray can’t get near him!_ After a second, Silver stopped laughing and his face settled into a dark smirk. “I’ll tell you this… The part about your father being alive is no lie, but me… Well, I make the story a little complicated.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Gray snapped from where he was leaned up against a crumbling section of wall, the remnants of a building that he had just crashed into. Silver grinned devilishly.

“You and I are _destined_ to fight, Gray.”

“I still don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!” he shouted and stood up to come at him again, but with that same absurd ease Silver knocked him down on his behind again. The rock behind him exploded as he crashed into it, and Gray was hunched on his hands and knees on the ground, breathing hard and bleeding from a multitude of scrapes and scratches all over his body. Seeing him in such a state sent Lucy’s nerves into overdrive, providing her just enough strength to crawl over to him.

“Gray,” she whispered, not sure what to really say to him with the frightening development but still feeling like she should comfort him in some way. She hesitantly placed her hands on his back and chest, afraid in his anger he would rebuke her, but when he did not recoil or snap at her she gently helped him sit up. He leaned up against the rock, one eye closed as he fought off the pain and exhaustion, while he held up one arm in front of her protectively. Silver cocked his head aside with a scowl.

“Girl, you’re interrupting our father-son time,” he frowned, and Lucy ducked her head under her arms as he sent a blast at the cold wind at her. Instead of feeling the cold, painful rush of ice needles, she felt Gray’s body collide with hers. That was pretty painful, too, but her concern for him overrode that.

“Gray!” she cried as he fell on his side into her lap, groaning slightly and bleeding even more.

“That was stupid, throwing yourself in front of her like that. You’re only getting yourself more beat up.” _He shielded me from the attack!_ She realized in a mixture of relief and horror, while Gray just grunted and again shot him that fiery glare. “I don’t want you to die defending that girl before I can explain it all to you, so I guess I’ll let it go for now,” Silver shrugged indifferently. Lucy’s lips pursed and her eyes narrowed, her hands once again finding Gray’s body to steady him. _This man… Whatever he once was, has become evil and twisted!_ The rush of anger was overtaken by a wave of sadness. _Gray must be in so much pain._ Indeed, beneath her fingers she could feel him trembling. _Stay strong, Gray._ “I suppose I should start with this body of mine. You see, it’s nothing more than a vessel, a corpse that happened to be lying around. All the members of Tartaros are demons from Zeref’s book, so of course my original form was _far_ from human.” Lucy felt Gray stiffen in shock. “It’s a bit of a hassle to run around this world as a demon, as you can imagine, so of course I choose to be human most of the time. It just so happened that I found this wonderful corpse, and I’ve been using it ever since. It was a bit of a coincidence that it happened to be _this_ body, or maybe it wasn’t.”

Lucy began to tremble herself as she listened to his deranged speech. _What a monster! He can so callously speak of Gray’s father that way!_ When she looked at the Fairy Tail mage, his eyes had gone wide and his face pale, and all traces of anger had faded from his expression. It was just one of shocked horror now, disbelief bordering on a breakdown. Lucy wrapped her arms around Gray in a slight hug, hoping that her presence could somehow provide him some comfort. _It must be so much for him to hear… I don’t know what I can do,_ she thought as she rested her cheek against his back. She had never realized how broad and strong it was.

“I’m here for you, Gray. ” she whispered, quietly so Silver- or whoever he really was- wouldn’t hear. She felt his body shift slightly, and a bit of the tension release.

“Don’t fuck with me, asshole,” Gray snarled. “Going around using my father’s corpse however you want… Even if I have reasons to hate you, you’ve got none to hate me!” As he stood up, though Lucy wanted to keep holding onto him, she allowed her arms to slip back down to her sides. Again, all she could do was sit there as Gray stared down the demon-possessed body. “What the hell is your problem?”

“Well, I tried killing all of Ur’s little brats, but in the end, that wasn’t very satisfying. She has been out of business for ten years, after all…” She could see the tension return in his body, and a horrible realization dawned upon Lucy. _It can’t be!_ “My name is Deloria! Surely you haven’t forgotten me, eh, Gray?” he cackled suddenly.

“It’s not possible…” Gray whispered, shaken again, and stepped back slightly and hung his head. “Ur _killed_ you!”

“Oh, that’s true, but as you know, Tartaros has a regeneration facility.”

“Are you really _that_ Deloria?” His head was still hung low, his hands balled into fists and shoulders hunched. Lucy could tell that he was reaching his breaking point.

“Don’t make me show my true form, boy. You remember, don’t you? How I slaughtered both your parents?”

When Gray looked up, Lucy had never seen such a murderous expression on his face before- so murderous that it frightened her. She only watched helplessly, shaking, as Gray charged the demon head-on. All traces of rational thought in him were gone. _If this keeps up, he’ll get himself killed!_ She thought as they collided in a brilliant explosion of sparkling ice crystals. Silver hopped away and shattered the ice Gray had just made, turning them into sharp shards to shoot them back at the Fairy Tail wizard; as Gray into the air to escape them, he fell right into the trap. Silver sent him careening across the battlefield again, and Lucy screamed as Gray went plummeting off the side of the cliff. However, Gray wasn’t going down that easy. He formed platforms of ice in the air to vault himself back up, heading straight for Silver.

“Ice Make: Excalibur!” he roared as he brought down a mighty ice sword onto Silver’s head. Lucy thought for sure that would work, but she heard him howling with laughter again; he had just bent over backwards and halted the ice sword with his hands. Lucy’s eyes widened in shock as he _ate_ the ice, just as she had seen Natsu do with fire magic time and time again.

“Magic of their own kind is useless against Slayer-type mages. Ur’s apprentices can only use ice magic… So, I learned devil-slayer magic.” He then lashed out at Gray again, and Lucy watched apprehensively as blood splurted from his body where icy shards had formed. She knew that it took more than that to kill him, but the battle certainly was not in his favor. Gray crashed roughly into the ground, while Silver grinned madly. “Yes! Yes! There’s the despair I wanted to see! After I kill you, I’ll kill Lyon! Then I’ll murder your precious friends, one after the other!” Lucy squeaked in fright as his attention focused on her. “Starting with the troublesome Celestial Mage here!” Lucy was completely exposed where she was sitting and in no position to dodge the attack, so she did the only thing she could do.

“Gray, help!” she screamed. She knew in that moment all she could do was rely on him, as Silver sent a bombardment of the ice shards rocketing towards her. He delivered, appearing at her side to scoop her up and jump away; the ice shards destroyed the already damaged rock behind where she had just been sitting. As Gray set her down on the ruined stone floor a few yards away, crouching beside her and dripping red blood onto her arms and legs, she looked up at him pitifully. “I’m sorry… I’m nothing but a burden to you,” she sniffed. “Look, you’re all beat up…” _I can’t believe I didn’t even try to dodge it! I’m relying on him too much! I’m making it **worse**!_

“This is nothing,” he reassured her with a strained grin, standing back up to plant himself again between Silver and herself. “I told you, I’m not letting _anybody_ hurt you again, Lucy! That includes this sadistic asshole right here!” he shouted and pointed at Silver, who was frowning because he was obviously upset his attempt to kill Lucy failed. “Stop spouting all that bullshit with my father’s body and voice!” he roared and fell into his signature pose. “Ice Make: Ice Impact!” A gigantic hammer formed above Silver and came crashing down, splintering the ground beneath him. Lucy shielded her face as little shards of stone rained down on her.

“Not gonna work!” Silver shouted, and she looked up to see him once again eating the ice. He then whirled around with a deadly serious expression. “You may want to move, or the girl will die,” he said as he whipped his arm back for a presumedly massive attack.

“Sorry about this,” Gray grunted, and before she could react, grabbed her by the back of her shirt and flung her unceremoniously away.

“Gray! No!” she shrieked as Silver released a massive icy blast at him, and he vanished from her sight within the roiling, icy white wind. She crashed roughly to the ground, and she groaned for a second in pain before forcing herself to look around for Gray. He was on the ground too, shaking violently as he struggled to push himself up. The tears that had not stopped for a second began to flow more freely. “Gray! Be strong, Gray!” she shouted at him over Silver’s incessant cackling.

“Don’t worry, Lucy…” he hissed as he stood up, pressing a hand against his profusely bleeding abdomen. “I promise… With these hands, I’m going to _destroy_ him.”

“You’re chances of winning are zero percent,” Silver snickered back. Gray made a cannon out of ice, sending a high-speed bullet at Silver. He didn’t even attempt to dodge it. “It won’t wor-“ He was cut off as a section of rubble the size of his head smashed into his face, sending his head whipping back so heard she thought for sure his neck would snap. He looked at Gray in deranged anger and a little bit of surprise.

“Eat this!” Gray roared, a handful of cannons around him firing all at once. Silver gritted his teeth as he defended himself against the onslaught.

“You’re crafty, but-!” he waved a hand, and a shiver went through Lucy’s body as a chill wind swept across the ruined fortress, coating every bit of the rubble in ice. “What will you do now that everything is covered in ice?”

“This is the magic that froze the giant’s village,” Gray remarked while looking around, then smirked. “You just dug your own grave. I can pass this magic through my body and recreate it however I wish!” Lucy’s eyes widened, as did Silver’s.

“What are you talking about?”

“You said it yourself- magic of your own type won’t work on slayer-type. I’m _well_ aware of that, but there’s an exception.” Lucy wracked her brain thinking of what he could mean, and then it dawned on her. _Of course! He knows Natsu can’t eat his own flames, so Silver must not be able to eat his own ice! If Gray uses Silver’s ice against him, he can’t nullify it!_ Gray’s body began to glow with magic power, and he dropped down to place a hand against the frozen ground and absorb the magic. “ _Now disappear!”_ He roared and sent a vortex of ice spiraling at Silver. Lucy, having recovered a bit of her strength, sat up on her knees and clasped her hands together.

“Please work!” she prayed aloud, hoping that her hope would be the difference.

It wasn’t.

“Yes, I can’t eat my own ice,” Silver growled. Lucy fell back on her legs as Silver emerged from the swirling mist, completely unfazed and unharmed. “It’s still _ice._ It’s not gonna work.” He looked up at the bewildered Gray with that same twisted grin. “Have I made you remember it yet? _The terror of Deloria?”_ Lucy shuddered at the absolute madness in his expression and voice. She was no longer sure… if this was an opponent that Gray could beat.

 _No! I have to be strong, too! I can’t help him fight, but I can support him from here! My hope will be his hope!_ She resolved quickly. Still, it was hard to hang onto that as Silver once again just tossed Gray aside like a rag doll.

“What’s happening? You’ve lost your energy. Are you _scared?”_ Silver mocked. _No! He can’t give up!_

“Gray! Don’t give up! You can beat him; I know it!” she shouted, then gasped as Silver began kicking him savagely in his wounded stomach. “I want to see your face more twisted,” he sneered, and then once again looked at Lucy. She gasped and tried to crawl away, but he was much faster. She screeched in agony as he jerked her up by her hair, pulling on it roughly.

“ _Lucy!_ ” Gray shouted and lunged for her, only to fall to the ground in a bleeding heap.

“Gray…” she whimpered, then cried out as Silver tugged on her hair again.

“Yes, that’s it! Fear! You’re more afraid of her death than your own!” Lucy wanted to be tough, but as his booted foot smashed into her ribs, all attempts of bravado dissolved as the flaming pain blossomed through her body. She threw her head back as she screamed in agony, the tears flooding down her cheeks once more. “I wanna see you beg, girl,” Silver snickered as he pulled her by her hair all the way up to where they were face-level. It hurt like hell, like he was ripping every hair out of her head, from the force of her own body weight pulling her down. Lucy’s bottom lip trembled as she glared weakly at him. “Oh? Still some deviance left? I’ll _beat_ it out of you.” Lucy’s world reeled as he backhanded her across the face, busting her lip in just one blow. “Come on! Beg him again to save you!” Through lidded eyes, Lucy watched Gray struggled to get up, slipping in his own blood. Silver slapped her again, and she felt her eye swelling up. “Do you want to die after all, girl? Go on! Call out for him!”

As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t bring herself to. She had already faltered once. _All I am right now is a burden…_ Gray had told her it was all right, but it wasn’t, not in her mind. She would not allow herself to slip into that hopeless fear again. _I have to be strong so he can be strong._ Lucy didn’t flinch as she heard him forming the ice sword in his hand. “Stubborn girl. You’re not fun to play with,” he growled. Before he could drive it through her body, Gray managed to pull himself to his feet and throw his entire body against Silver, unbalancing him. Gray grabbed Lucy around the middle and ripped her away from Silver as he stumbled, again carrying her to safety. As he set her down, he gasped as more blood poured from his wound and he fell heavily against her.

“Gray!”

“I’m okay,” he huffed and looked up at her. One of his eyes was closed as blood poured into it from a scratch on his forehead, and blood leaked from the corners of his mouth. He looked a mess, and the worry must have shown on her face. “As long as I have you here supporting me, Lucy, I’ll keep fighting.” Lucy’s face flushed. _I’m really helping!_

“Do you really think you can win?” Silver snorted in derision. Gray straightened up, pushing Lucy- who ironically now found she could stand up- behind him.

“I _have_ to win,” he answered darkly, shaking from both the effort to keep standing and determination. “I have to win because I’m making sure Lucy’s going home!”

“Ice won’t work. I’ve blocked your physical attacks. You can’t just win with your _feelings._ ”

“Not yet… I’ve still got something left.” Lucy stepped back as he fell into an unfamiliar stance, panting heavily. _I’ve got a bad feeling…_ she thought and held her hands to her chest. “Iced Shell.” As he uttered those words, her blood ran cold.

“Gray! No! Don’t do it!” she shrieked and jumped forward to grab him by the shoulders, but he shrugged her off. Even though she could stand, the rough motion still unbalanced her and sent her falling back to the ground. “No! Gray!” she begged him though she knew he had made up his mind.

“You’re bluffing. That move freezes the opponent for eternity in exchange for their life. You wouldn’t do it. Besides, ice doesn’t work on me, not even Iced Shell,” Silver mused. He was completely unbothered by the threat.

“Oh? Think back… That magic imprisoned you for ten years.”

“That’s before I mastered demon-slaying magic.”

“Then have the guts to take this!” Gray roared, his body glowing and beginning to distort slightly. Silver’s expression turned to one of slight panic.

“You can’t! You’ll die!” he cried out. Lucy lunged forward on her hands and knees, reaching out for him.

“No, Gray! _Don’t leave me!”_ She realized it now; she realized why it seemed he had changed all of a sudden, and she hadn’t gotten the chance to tell him. “ _I lo-“_

“ _Stop!”_ Silver screeched and waved a hand, slicing through Gray’s middle. Lucy was about to scream, until Gray’s form shifted into a crumbling ice sculpture. “What?” Silver cried and whipped around as Gray appeared behind him.

“For my family… And for Ur… I will surpass you, Deloria!”

“No, Gray, _please!_ Remember what Natsu did!” Lucy continued to beg him, though she wasn’t sure her voice was reaching him. Natsu had stopped him from using Iced Shell once before, but he wasn’t here now. She pulled herself to her feet, sobbing miserably. “ _Don’t do it! I-“_

“Listen to the girl!” Silver interrupted. Gray’s eyes shifted downward, and for a moment hope fluttered inside of her, hope that her pleas had changed his mind. Then they flickered upwards again, fiery and defiant.

“ _Sorry.”_

Lucy screamed as the ice magic shot from Gray’s body and weaved around Silver, who was also screaming in fear.

“Ice doesn’t work on me!” he was shouting, as if it would make it true, while Lucy fell to her knees, the tears now streaming silently down her cheeks. _Gray…_ Then, the ice magic rebounded, and Silver grinned maniacally in triumph. “I crushed your Iced Shell!” he grinned to the shocked Gray. Lucy looked up, expecting Gray to die at Silver’s hands, but there was another Gray standing behind Silver now, right in front of her. The _real_ Gray.

“I’m sorry, Lucy. I almost forgot something important,” he murmured as the other Gray, another ice sculpture, crumbled to pieces. “I can’t die, because I don’t want to see anyone crying… Especially not you.” Lucy’s bottom lip wobbled precariously as the tears of desperation turned to those of relief. _He did hear me!_ Silver whipped around in shock, and they both realized at that time that Gray was holding a steel ball.

“When did you-?”

“I was the one who melted the giant’s village.” While they had been preoccupied trying to prevent Gray from using the Iced Shell, he had melted the ruins and supposedly picked up his new weapon. Before Silver could even finish turning around, Gray coated his arm in a thick armored gauntlet of ice. Lucy jumped forward and grabbed onto his arm, and he looked at her.

“I’ll help you!” She could feel it, a tiny remnant of Aquarius’ power fluttering inside of her, and she thought of no better way to use it than here and now. He nodded to her, and she closed her eyes to summon the magic. _Aqua Metria!_ The water magic swirled in Gray’s palm where he was holding the ball. With a roar, he flung the steel ball at Silver with all his might, amplifying its acceleration with the armor-like ice and Lucy’s water magic, which created a vortex behind the projectile to boost its force. It collided with Silver’s middle, so fast that it blew a hole right through him, and he collapsed to the ground with blood already pooling around him. Gray instantly sagged, panting heavily and barely able to stand. Lucy wrapped an arm around his middle, trying not to think about the thick, hot blood leaking on her arm, and pulled him against her to support him.

“Well done… Gray…” Silver croaked weakly. Gray just snorted.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice? You’re not Deloria… You’re my father.” Lucy narrowed her eyes, having been convinced, but Gray would know his father better than anyone.

“Finish me.”

“Fuck off! You’re my old man! What the hell are you even _doing_ here?” Gray snapped back. There was a moment of silence.

“I was waiting to be killed by you…” Silver admitted quietly. “You’re right… I was once your father, but I’m not human anymore… I’m not a demon, either. I’m a corpse. I’ve been dead for seventeen years. Man, what a long time…” Gray stiffened in Lucy’s grasp. _He really is dead! But how…?_ “A necromancer, who wields a curse that allows you to control the dead… I was collected by him as a corpse and used for his experiments. Its aim was to figure out how closely he could make the existence of a corpse resemble its former self. I was among several hundred of them, but I alone have lived this long. No, not really lived… More like _existed.”_ Lucy put a hand to her mouth. _How awful…_ “And it was all for the sake of revenge against the demons that stole my family away from me. In this dark guild, I persevered, in secret, killing demons while I discovered them. That’s why I did what I did in the Sun Village… Those flames were not of demonic origin after all. I continued to weaken the powers of the demons around me until I thought that I could take down Tartaros. But then… I learned that you were alive, Gray. At that moment I realized…” He shakily lifted up his hands to stare at them. “These hands of mine are too stained with blood. I have no right to fight for your sake or your mother’s…” Gray stared at him in quiet disbelief, then hung his head again, trembling slightly.

“So that’s why you were so hell-bent on dying?”

“I’m already dead, Gray. I just intended to erase this existence of mine. I leave everything to you,” he grunted as he pulled himself into a sitting position, his expression dismally sad. Gray gritted his teeth and waved an arm angrily.

“You don’t _get_ to decided! And what’s left for me, anyway?!” After his outburst, he seemed to realize something, and exhaled deeply, relaxing against Lucy.

“It’s okay… You don’t need to do anything. I said some pretty messed up things to you, and I did those awful things to that girl there… I apologize…” he murmured. Gray looked down, continuing to shake as he balled up his fists. _He’s probably realizing… That Silver did all this so Gray could finally conquer his demons… And realize his true strengths…_ “You’re better off just forgetting about me. The man you knew… Died long ago.”

“You’re still my dad,” Gray uttered quietly. A tear rolled down Silver’s cheek.

“As if there’d ever be a father that hits his children and threatens their friends,” he said through gritted teeth. Gray started to object, but Silver cut him off. “Enough… Quickly… Finish me.” His head still hung and his shoulders hunched, a long, sharp sword formed in Gray’s hands. Lucy stepped back, allowing him to stand on his own, because this was something the he and he alone needed to do.

“You want to be put to rest, huh?”

“Please… I want to see your mother again.” Gray was silent, but she could see the emotions roiling inside him, from his taut posture and his trembling body and gritted teeth. “Don’t hesitate! I had a hand in Operation Face! I killed those former council members! I raised a hand against the Celestial Mage, who is important to you! I am your enemy!” Gray walked forward, holding the sword above his head. Lucy could see the tip of it wavering precariously from his shaking hand.

“You may be my father by blood,” he hissed. “But none of that matters to me, if you’re an enemy of the guild! That’s how we’ve always protected it!” At the end, Gray’s voice broke, and the sword dropped slightly.

“Such is what it means to be human,” Silver mused quietly.

“I… I just can’t kill you!” Gray cried suddenly and dropped the sword, and though his back was to her, she knew he was crying from the way his shoulders were shaking. “Fuck… Fuck it all…” he sniffed and hung his head miserably.

“That, too, is what it means to be human,” his father sighed with a rueful smile and tears leaking from his eyes. As Gray sniffled miserably, wiping at his eyes as he cried, Lucy debated whether she should comfort him; she decided that regardless of whether it was appropriate or not, she wanted to, and so she walked over to Gray’s side and wrapped her hands around the upper muscle of his arm and squeezed slightly. Without saying anything, he collapsed into her, and despite her weakness she still found the strength to bear his weight. _Right now is when he **really** needs me. _He turned his head to press it into hers, their faces close enough for her to see the tears spilling from his lashes even though he was trying to cover them with his fingers. She glanced over at Silver as he pulled himself up and stumbled unsteadily over to Gray, and pulled him into a hug with his hand on the back of his head, and then did something she didn’t expect- he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders and hugged her too. “My body won’t hold out much longer…”

“Dad,” Gray sniffed as he buried his face into his father’s shoulders, but couldn’t find the words he wanted to say, all the things he wanted to tell him. He didn’t need to.

“I just want to hold you for a little while, if that’s okay…” Gray dissolved into sobs, trying to muffle them with the fur around Silver’s cape, but the full force of his emotions was spilling forth, having broken through the dam he had erected so long ago. Lucy continued to hold onto his arm, soothingly stroking her fingers up and down his bruised, bloody skin, silently letting him know that she was there for him. “You’ve grown into a fine man, Gray… My pride and joy.”

 _I’m glad, despite everything, that Gray will have the chance to say goodbye._ “Little girl…”

“My name is Lucy.”

“Oh, yes. Lucy. I’m sorry for what I put you through,” he smiled at her, but the guilt and remorse was clear in his expression. “I was acting selfish. I hope you won’t hold it against me.” Lucy shook her head, and was honest, too. Even if it wasn’t the right way to do it, he was acting for Gray’s benefit. She couldn’t hate him for that. “Now, Gray… There’s one more thing left. I am going to teach you the ice devil-slayer magic. E.N.D. is a flame demon.” Lucy watched for a moment, but nothing in particular seemed to happen between them; yet, all of a sudden, Gray seemed to find his strength again and was able to stand without her support. _He must have transferred his magic to him._ She and Gray gasped as he began to glow brightly. “Ah… It seems the water girl managed to pull it off.” _Juvia?_ “Lucy… Take care of Gray,” he told her, then looked at Gray. “I leave everything to you.” With that, he faded into brilliant light that flickered out of existence as it ascended to the sky. Gray balled up his fists and hung his head again, so Lucy slid her hand down his arm to curl it around his, and he opened it up so their fingers could entwine.

“Dad… You can rest now,” he murmured, and Lucy watched as dark bands appeared on Gray’s lower arm, right above his wrist, three in a row. “As an ice devil slayer, I’m going to _crush_ E.N.D.” A moment of silence passed, and then Gray suddenly whipped around to envelop Lucy in a tight hug and bury his face into her hair, seemingly indifferent to how dirty and tangled it was. She could feel the tears leaking from his eyes and falling into the messy blonde strands and onto her shoulder, and as she wrapped her arms tightly around him, she could feel that he was trembling again. _I will be your strength._  

“It’s okay, Gray,” she murmured. “Thank you so much for taking care of me… I’m gonna take care of you now. Promise.” _I promise you, Silver… I will watch over your son, whom you left this power and this will…_ After a minute of crying, Gray managed to reign in his emotions and lifted his head to look down at her, tears still swimming in his dark eyes.

“Lucy… When I was about to use the Iced Shell…” A faint blush rose to her cheeks, because she already knew what he was about to ask. She could play it off, but… _I want to be honest about my feelings._ The feelings she never really knew she had, until this battle, where the both of them gained so much, found a strength they never knew they had.

“I was going to tell you… I love you… Gray.” Instead of blushing and looking away, she met his gaze, so he could read the emotion and seriousness in her eyes. She wasn’t sure for how long she had, or when it started; all she knew is that she knew it now, and she wasn’t going to be silent. Even if he didn’t feel the same way, she wanted him to know. “I’ll be your strength when you can’t find any… I’ll be at your side, to support you when you fall… I’ll take care of you, just like your father asked me to… Even if you don’t lo-“

She couldn’t finish, because at that instant he grabbed her by the face and kissed her with a fierce passion. It was Lucy who fell into him this time, as all the strength was sapped from her body, her breath being stolen away by the maelstrom swirling between Gray’s mouth and her own. She felt everything in that kiss, his sadness and pain, his joy and relief, his love and his desire. Her hands found his shoulders; she had to anchor herself to him somehow, lest she be swept away by the storm of his lips moving in a fierce rhythm against hers. She started crying again. His emotions were hers, too; she experienced it all, writhing inside of her until they poured down her cheeks in those silent rivers of tears. As his hands found their way to her waist, one of hers had crept up the back of his neck to entangle her fingers into the dark strands of his hair, the sweat and blood coating her fingertips as she wound the soft fibers around them. They said so much in the silence, more than they could ever say with words. When their lips finally parted, Lucy felt like she had been found after being lost for an eternity, found in the way he was gazing down at her so softly and the way he was holding her body up against his.

“I’m gonna hold you to that promise- and I promise I’ll take care of you, too. Now let’s go finish kicking Tartaros’ ass. We can’t let Natsu have all the fun, can we?” Lucy smiled sweetly as she nodded firmly, and he pulled away from her, though he paused a moment to slip his hand into hers and entwine their fingers.

_I don’t know what will happen from here… But I know we’ll do it together._


	5. When It Counts

Category: Friendship Fluff

Characters: Lucy Heartfilia

Requested by: Anonymous User

Lucy couldn’t help but smile elatedly as she stepped off the train, stretching her arms above her head and working out the stiffness in her legs before exhaling deeply.

“Ahhhh~ We’re finally home!” she exclaimed. All she got from Natsu and Wendy were a pair of identical labored groans, while Gray was indifferently staring off into space. Erza, at least, came up behind her to clap her in the back with an affirmative nod, but the woman’s absurd strength caused Lucy to lose her balance and stumble forward with arms pin-wheeling. “ _Ack!_ Ow! That hurt, Erza…” she pouted as she looked over her shoulder at the red-haired warrior woman. Erza had already turned her attention on Natsu and Gray, who were bickering like usual, but a pair of whacks over their heads shut them right up. Lucy tried to ignore the burning between her shoulder blades as she absentmindedly picked up her bag and began walking toward the station exit; as she was, she accidentally walked to closely to someone and bumped them in the arm. “Oh, please exc- Huh?” There was no one there, at least not anyone close enough to have bumped into- only a man further down the line walking briskly toward the platform. “How odd…”

“I’m _hungry_!” Natsu suddenly roared so intensely that a small bit of fire burst from his mouth, catching the end of poor Wendy’s pigtail on fire. She wailed in fright and ran around in circles with tears streaming down her cheeks until Gray caught the flaming hair between his hands and instantly quelled the small fire with his ice magic, leaving the wind dragon-slayer whimpering and lamenting the burned ends of her pretty, dark hair.

“Cut it out! You’re making a racket!” the ice wizard scolded Natsu, who puffed out his cheeks defiantly.

“Nuh-uh! _You’re_ making a racket, so shut the hell up!”

“You tell him, Natsu!” Happy quipped thinking he was being supportive. Charlie rolled her eyes and shook her head at the hopelessly optimistic cat. Gray and Natsu began bickering again, pressing their foreheads together as they ground their teeth, until Erza once again knocked them upside their seemingly empty heads.

“ _Both_ of you are making a racket and can shut the hell up!”

“Sorry, Erza,” they chimed begrudgingly in sync as they placed a large amount of distance between themselves and the woman, and rubbed the growing lumps on their heads.

“Now, then, I suppose we are all hungry and should therefore find someplace to eat,” Erza smiled magnanimously and put her hands on her hips, now that her scolding was finished.

“Oh! I know! Let’s eat at Lucy’s house!” Happy offered, and before Lucy could argue, they all chimed in agreement that Lucy’s home cooking was exactly what they needed. Lucy remained in the station with her head hung and her mood somber as they strutted off to break into her house while she ran to the store to buy enough food to satiate the overpowered mages- all by their decision, of course. _Oh, man… There goes all my reward money,_ she lamented miserably and began shuffling off towards the market district, practically watching the money fly right out of her pockets.

It was a short walk to the local grocery store, and like the train station the streets were quite empty. Normally it didn’t bother Lucy, but for some reason during that evening in particular, she was feeling watched; all throughout her walk and her shopping she glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see someone standing behind her, but just like at the train station she was greeted with only empty air. As she walked down the road alongside the harbor towards her home, carrying two shopping bags full of food for the waiting mages, she could not keep the shivers from traveling up her spine.

 _What’s wrong with me? Why am I so paranoid right now?_ Their mission hadn’t even been particularly dangerous or involved renegade guilds, so it wasn’t like she was expecting to be targeted for any reason. Biting down on her lip nervously, she again cast a glance over her shoulder towards the end of the street expecting to again be met with only shadows; except, this time she wasn’t. There _was_ someone behind her- and not far behind her, either. Lucy screamed in fright as a cloak-clad man seemingly emerged from the night to grab her by her arms, and she dropped the grocery bags and sent various meats and vegetables scattering into the street. Before she could scream again, another pair of individuals, apparently his comrades, sprang from an alley to subdue her, one of them pressing a rag over her mouth to silence her screams. A sickly-sweet smell wafted up her nose, one she supposed to be that of a sedative, and she tried her hardest to resist breathing in the fumes. However, with her struggling movements and agitated state, her breathing rate was far higher than normal, and she could not break free of their grasps long enough to escape the noxious odors. Over several minutes, Lucy’s jerky movements transitioned into weak, languid ones, and her mind muddled as her vision began to fog up as she suffocated under the liquid-soaked rag. The last thing she could remember thinking of was that she wasn’t going to make it to dinner, before it all faded into darkness.

 

Lucy’s transition into consciousness was slow. Her eyelashes fluttered as her vision refocused in the dark, gloomy atmosphere around her. Gradually, her body stopped feeling numb and her senses returned, and she found with alarm that her arms were tied above her head and her precious Celestial keys were not hanging at her waist. Even worse, she realized that her clothes had been changed; her typical attire had been replaced with a very revealing outfit, a band around her bust and a slitted skirt decorated with plastic jewels and dangling decorations. Her shoes were gone, too, replaced with a pair of gold ankle bracelets, and glittering jewel earrings hung from her ears. It was oddly reminiscent of the attire she had worn during their operation concerning the Dragon Cry, when she had danced in a bar. Her face instantly flushed like Natsu’s fiery breath when she came to the conclusion that _someone_ had changed her clothes. As she looked around wildly, rapidly descending into a mixture of fury and fear, she found that presumed someone sitting in a chair at the other end of the room. He was shrouded in the gloom. Lucy instantly shut her eyes when he reached up to flip on the lights, blinded by its intensity, until they adjusted enough for her to crack one open and glare at him.

“I’m so glad you’re awake.”

“Who are you, you creep? What have you done with my keys?” she demanded, her anger taking over for a moment. She gritted her teeth as he swung them nonchalantly around his fingers, their jingling filling the small, plain room. “Stop that! They’re not a musical instrument, you know!” He just laughed and caught them in his hand, tucking them into his pocket before standing up. He was a handsome man; Lucy could even see that in her dire situation, with luscious brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and chiseled features, dressed in a suit. _Well, a handsome creep is still a creep!_ “Where’s your two lackeys?”

“Oh, they’re nothing to worry about. Their job was finished, so I sent them on their way,” he answered vaguely.

“Who are you? What do you want from me? Are you a part of a dark guild? I’m warning you, Fairy Tail won’t take this lightly!”

“Oh, no. I’m not associated with any guild, and Fairy Tail means nothing to me.” As he said that, he vanished from Lucy’s sight, and she recoiled in bewilderment as she looked around the now empty room. _What? Where did he go?_ She gasped as he abruptly appeared right before her eyes, lighting putting a finger beneath her chin. “I’m still a mage, though. I get offers all the time, as you can imagine; invisibility magic is highly useful for things like assassinations and kidnappings. I did mess up at the train station, though. I was just so flustered by you touching me like that.” Lucy’s red face instantly paled to the color of snow, not ignorant to the insinuations behind his remark. She swallowed slightly, trying to keep her composure. Showing weakness in front of him would mean he had already won.

“Some mage you are, then. If you’re not with a dark guild and aren’t after Fairy Tail, then what _do_ you want?” She wasn’t even sure why she asked the question, because she just knew she wouldn’t like the answer. He chuckled softly, and under normal circumstances, she might have thought that he had a very nice laugh.

“Oh, Lucy, dear, isn’t it obvious? I want _you_.” Though she was beginning to panic on the inside, lacking her keys and no idea where she was or if her friends were going to be able to find her, she remained composed enough to glare acidly up at him. “Oh, my. What an ugly expression on such a pretty face,” he tutted and patted her cheek. When she whipped her head in an attempt to bite him, he hastily pulled back his hand and laughed heartily. “Such a spirited one!”

“Take these ropes off me and I’ll show you how spirited I am, mister.”

“I think not,” he mused and vanished again, only to reappear across the room. She narrowed her eyes as he pulled out her keys again, and then they widened as he gripped Leo’s key tightly between his two hands, in the position to snap it right in half. “Oh, yes, you realize what a position you’re in now, don’t you? You keep acting like that, and I’ll have to punish you.” Losing one of her keys, especially Loki, with whom she had been through so much, was more than she could bear, and her tough person instantly shattered.

“No! Please! I’ll do whatever you want! Don’t break my keys!” Loki had the ability to make his own gate, so she expected him to appear in that moment, but he didn’t. Tears stung her eyes as she strained against the ropes tied around her wrists. “I’m _begging_ you!”

“That’s more like it,” he smirked at her, but relaxed his grip on the key a little. “Your little Celestial friends can’t save you. I have a special spell in place that suppresses Celestial power, so that’s why your little lion friend can’t come through the gate.” _How the hell did he know about that?_ “I know a lot about you, Lucy.” She recoiled, pressing back against the wall. It was almost like he read her mind, though it was probably just that her face was showing all her emotions right now. “I’m so in love with you, you see, that I just have to know _everything_ about you.”

“I’ve never even met you!” she growled. There was more tremor in her voice than she would have liked.

“I saw you dance in Stella.” _What? **That’s** what this is all about? This creep wants to see me belly-dance again? _she thought incredulously. As she debated struggling, her eyes landed on Leo’s key clutched in his hands, and all thoughts of defiance vanished completely. Her shoulders sagged as she hung her head, not wanting him to see her bottom lip wobbling as the tears flooded her eyes. _What do I do? This situation is hopeless… Even if he takes the ropes off, I can’t risk him breaking the key… I can’t lose another one of them again…_ Losing Aquarius nearly broke her; she couldn’t imagine having to part with another one of her spirits. _My only hope… Is Natsu and the others…_ Surely, they had realized that something had happened when she hadn’t turned up, and Natsu and Wendy’s acute senses of smell would hopefully lead them to her. However, she had no idea how long she had been unconscious or how far away from home she was. She raised her head miserably, wearied by the hopelessness of it all.

“What do you want?” she asked again, feebly, fearfully.

“I just want to see you dance again, my dear Lucy.” _I can’t fight him, not when he’s holding my keys hostage. I just have to do what he says, and hope they’re coming for me…_ She nodded obediently, and he procured a small dagger to walk over and slice the ropes around her wrists. While her arms dropped and she rubbed the red, scraped areas of her wrists where the ropes had chafed her, he plopped down in the chair again with a darkly eager expression, the golden key still trapped in his fingers as a reminder for her to stay docile. She had no music, but Lucy still fell into the dancing pose anyway; thankfully, it hadn’t been that long since Stella, and she remembered the steps.

The plastic jewels and gold, dangling accents on her outfit jingled faintly as she glided in her bare feet across the dirty brick floor, and she felt sickened, reminded of the way he so carelessly jangled her beloved keys. She fought the nausea, sensually moving around the small room, moving her arms here and swinging her arms there, with the occasional seductive swish of her hips or dramatic toss of her head. All the while, she could feel his eyes boring into her and exploring every part of her body. It made her even more sick to her stomach, and she tried to keep the expression of acute disgust from forming on her face, for fear of retaliation against her spirits. _Just focus on what you’re doing, Lucy._ “Won’t you come a bit closer?” Lucy’s step faltered, and her arms hung in the air for a brief moment as her heart rate skyrocketed. She didn’t want to go anywhere near him. He smiled thinly, tapping his finger against the end of the key, and so she smiled serenely back at him before dancing across the room to stand in front of him. Now, she danced slowly in a circle around the chair, and was even more aware of his pervasive staring. As she came around the side of him, his arm shot out to encircle her bare waist and stop her in her tracks. “Magnificent. You dance like the stars are at your feet, Lucy.” As he pulled her closer to the chair, the key shifting in his hand in such a way that the low light flashed across its golden surface, Lucy’s anxiety threatened to boil over. _Oh my God, what is he going to do to me?_ He must have felt her fear mounting, because he reached around with his other hand to hold the key in a breaking position again, leaving Lucy trapped in the circle that was his arms. “Careful, now.” His voice was breathy, full of threat and desire. “Come, Lucy. Show me what it’s like to be among the stars.”

That’s when Natsu came crashing through the brick wall.

“I’ll show you the stars, asshole!” he howled as he drop-kicked Lucy’s aggressor in the side of the head. As he lost his grip on the keys and they went sailing through the air, jingling wildly, Lucy jumped up to catch them. As her hand wrapped around Leo’s key, she could feel the power humming within it, and it began to glow. Without her even reciting the invocation, Loki appeared in front of her, his hands in his suit pants pockets and a vicious scowl on his face. Apparently Natsu landing such a blow on the man had deactivated his preventative magic.

“I’m gonna kick your ass for touching Lucy like that, you scumbag!” he shouted, then shot a grin at her. “By the way, you look lovely~” Hearts were practically beating in his eyes.

“Who cares? Get to kicking his ass already!” she demanded angrily and pointed at the creep, who was picking himself up out of the rubble of the other wall, which Natsu had sent him crashing through. As he struggled to get to his feet, Gray appeared through the dust and jerked him up by the back of his jacket.

“You messed with the _wrong_ people,” he frowned.

“How are you _already_ shirtless?!” Lucy cried and face-palmed, while Gray cried out in shock and looked down at himself. With the momentary distraction, his captive was able to use his vanishing magic.

“What the hell? Where did he go?” Gray cried as his jacket appeared in his hands. Apparently, the magic only pertained to things directly touching him.

“He uses invisibility magic!” she answered, and Loki stepped back to shield her with his arm, anticipating that he would target her first. Wendy had also clambered over the half-collapsed wall to run to her side, and stood behind her with her arms spread on either side of her to likewise shield Lucy with her body. She wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes.

“Natsu-!”

“Yeah, I know! Vanish all you like, asshole, I can still _smell_ you!” With that exclamation, Natsu sprang at thin air, but rather than land on the ground he remained hanging in the air with his arms and legs wrapped around what she figured must be the mage, cloaked in his invisibility. After a second, he dropped the spell and angrily tugged at Natsu, who was clinging to him like some sort of monkey on his back.

“Get off me!” he demanded, and managed to grab ahold of the back of Natsu’s shirt and fling him into the wall. Natsu’s curses were buried under the pile of bricks that came crashing down on top of him. However, this provided enough time for Erza to step onto the scene.

“That’s quite enough, you villain!” Though she whacked him over the back of his head with the blunt side of her sword, Lucy still knew that there was enough power behind the attack to be immensely effective- and painful. He crumpled like a rag doll at the knight’s feet, moaning in pain even though he was completely unconscious. “There. That takes care of that.” As she primly put her hands on her hips, Natsu’s head popped out of the rubble, coated in brick dust.

“No fair! I wanted to sock him!” he whined loudly.

“That’s beside the point, Natsu!” Wendy cried and whipped around to face Lucy. “Are you okay, Lucy? Did he hurt you?”

“No,” she shook her head, but her expression was sad as she held her keys against her chest. “I couldn’t do anything… He held my keys hostage…” Lucy was just now beginning to realize how completely powerless she had been. _I relied completely on these guys to come save me… After all this time and everything that’s happened, I still depend on them so much…_ Tears crept back into her eyes and flowed down her cheeks.

“Eh? Natsu, you made her cry!” Gray accused.

“What? How? Why? What did I say?” he stammered quickly in confusion and wriggled out of the pile of rubble to scramble over to her and grab her hands, bringing his face close as he looked down at her with a serious expression. “Don’t cry, Lucy! I didn’t mean it!... Whatever I said,” he said as his expression morphed into a perplexed frown.

“No, it’s not that… It’s just how powerless I was,” she sighed, shoulders sagging. “I should have put up a better fight.”

“Nah, you did your best!” he grinned brightly at her, making her look up with wide eyes. “It’s okay! Sometimes you just can’t win, and that’s what we’re here for, right guys?”

“That’s right! We’ll always come for you when you need help! Isn’t that right, Charlie?” Wendy giggled, her pigtails swishing as she looked to her beloved partner for agreement. The pretty flying cat nodded in agreement, to which Happy chirped, “Aye!”

“Yeah. We know how important your keys are to you. It was a jerk move, playing like he was going to break them like that,” Gray agreed, then looked at Loki. “Also, thanks for your help- oh, wait, you didn’t _do_ anything.”

“Shut up! I came to my lovely Lucy’s aid!” Loki pouted while wrapping an arm around her shoulders, which made her sigh deeply and sag her shoulders out of weariness, not in the mood to deal with his flirtatiousness.

“Thanks, Loki, but you can go home now.”

“Aw, Lucy! You’re so cold!” he whined but obediently let her go. He then flashed her a wink. “If it hadn’t been for that magic barrier, I would’ve been here in an instant! I’ll always protect you, Lucy, no matter what!” he snickered before returning through his gate. It did bring a smile to Lucy’s face.

“Yes. We are all here to support you when you need it,” Erza nodded, but it was hard to take her seriously when she was sadistically stepping on the unconscious man’s back, making him continuously squeak in pain. Lucy chuckled and shook her head at the antics of the dysfunctional but fun group. In their weird way, they did make her feel better.

“Thank you, everyone.” _It’s okay to rely on them sometimes. After all, there are times that they’ll have to rely on my power, too. That’s what friends do._

“By the way, are you still making dinner?” Natsu asked hopefully. Lucy’s mood did a one-eighty.

“This time _you’ll_ be the one seeing stars, Natsu!”

Lucy had found the most destructive, crazy, dysfunctional, altogether outrageous family ever- but no matter how much they got on her nerves (particularly a certain pink-haired dragon-slayer) and how much they bickered, she knew they would always come together to protect each other when it counted. Lucy was proud to be a part of it, and couldn’t think of a better family to be a part of.


	6. Keep Me Warm

Category: Romantic Fluff

Characters: Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia

This prompt was taken from the prompt blog on Tumblr, hellsdemonictrinity! Please check them out!

 _Thump. Thump. Clang! Thump, thump, thump. Crash!_ “Dammit!”

Lucy groaned loudly as the ambient noises echoing through her small apartment dragged her unwillingly into consciousness. Not quite willing to relinquish the peaceful embrace of sleep, she yanked her comforter over her head and snuggled into her pillow in an attempt to return once more to its arms. _Bang! Clatter!_ With an irritated growl, she flung back over and grabbed her alarm clock, peering in the gloom as her eyes struggled to adjust to its glaring neon numbers. _2:36 in the morning? What the hell is all this noise?!_ She fumed silently. Lucy had just returned from a rather perilous mission with Natsu- when were they not perilous when he was involved- from the mountains. The exhausting aspect aside, Lucy was fairly certain that she was coming down with a cold from the adventure and was hence trying to sleep as much as possible to stave off falling ill. She crunched her alarm clock in her hand before slamming it back down on her bedside table, her mood soured by the assault on her attempt to stay healthy.

She was still too groggy to recognize that the sounds were coming from within her own home rather than out in the street, so that is why her first instinct was to climb out of bed and march over to her window. She angrily threw it open, recoiling for a moment as the cold, harsh night wind blasted into her room. She was only dressed in a tank top and a pair of short-shorts, and she tried to ignore the icy breeze as it danced over her bare skin with eager fingers while she leaned out of the window to glare down at the cobblestone streets, attempting to find the perpetrator and give them a proper scolding.

“Huh? There’s no one there,” she mumbled and blearily rubbed her eyes. The pale moonlight shining down upon the street revealed nothing but shadows and a skinny cat skulking along the wall that overlooked the bay. In her sleepy delirium, Lucy paused a moment to admire the way the white light scattered across the shifting surface of the ocean, looking like diamonds sparkling in a field of blue flowers. “Pretty…”

 _Craaaaaash!_ “Owwwwww, ow, ow, ow, _owwww_!”

Lucy leaped nearly a foot in the air as the resounding clamor blasted through her apartment, and all traces of sleepiness immediately left her when she came upon the frightening realization that someone was in her house- a clumsy someone, but a someone nonetheless. Too concerned with her own safety to bother with appearances, she snatched her Celestial Keys off her nightstand and opened her bedroom door to peer out suspiciously into the night. Light glowed softly at the end of the hall in the direction of her kitchen, and she could hear hushed voices floating down the hallway, though she could not make out who they were or what they were saying. She held her keys tightly in her hands to keep them from jingling as she crept through the shadows, drawing closer to the intruders apparently raiding her refrigerator. She hid behind the ajar kitchen door to eavesdrop.

“Ooh! Chocolate chips! Whadaya think, buddy?”

“Nah! I want peanut butter.”

“ _What?_ Peanut butter sucks! How could you say that?”

“How could _you_ say _that?_ … Why don’t we do both so we’re both happy?”

“Ah! Great idea! You’re a genius, Happy!”

Lucy’s shoulders hunched up to her ears upon realizing just who had snuck into her house in the middle of the night. _Of course. I should have known. **Of course** it would be those two knuckleheads! _She thought bitterly as she stepped out from behind the door and into the threshold to gaze upon the disaster they had created. Lucy’s pots and pans had been dragged out of her cabinets, and presumably since they were located on the bottom shelves near the floor, Natsu had bumped his head on the jutting countertop trying to claim them, judging from the goose egg sticking out of his wild pink hair. Similarly they had raided her pantry and fridge for things like flour, sugar, eggs, milk, and the like, all of which were emptied of their contents and scattered across the kitchen, both their containers and the substances themselves. Natsu and Happy had apparently had particular fun making footprints and handprints all over the place with the flour before returning to their task at hand, which Lucy had deemed to be making cookies.

“Wanna tell me what you’re doing in my kitchen at three in the morning?”

As Lucy spoke up from her spot in the doorway, it was the boys’ turn to jump a foot in the air. As Natsu whipped around, spastically stirring a bowl of cookie dough, he grinned sheepishly at her.

“Oh, hey, Lucy. We wanted cookies, but we didn’t have the stuff to make it at home, so we came here~ Ya want some?” A pained groan slipped out of her mouth and she shook her head wearily while she face-palmed. There wasn’t going to be any explaining to them that it was socially improper to break into someone’s house in the middle of the night because they wanted to bake cookies for whatever reason, so she resigned herself to the fact that they were going to be hanging out in her house for the next hour, if not sleeping there because they were going to be too full to go home. When Lucy looked up, Natsu had somehow silently closed the distance between them, and she went bright red at his close proximity. “Hey, aren’t you cold, wearing so little?” He nonchalantly took the spatula out of the mix and licked the cookie dough off of it while staring into her eyes, which just made her flush darker.

“I was sleeping! Gah! Don’t look!” She wailed, having suddenly realized how provocatively she was dressed- more than usual, anyway- and turned around to fold her arms over her bust. It didn’t help that she had left the bedroom window open, and the night air was rapidly spreading through the apartment, making her shiver slightly. _I’m cold **now,** because you mentioned it… _Everywhere but her face, at least. She twitched as Natsu leaned over her shoulder.

“Hey, your face is really red. You’re not running a fever, are you? You said something about getting a cold in the mountains, right?” Lucy shook her head emphatically and stepped away from him, blushing further. Normally his lack of personal space didn’t bother her, but perhaps since she was still so tired, her mind just couldn’t process it like it normally could. As she did step to the side, though, Lucy suddenly had the bizarre sensation that she was falling, and her vision blurred before her eyes. _What?_ She thought weakly. Her mind was falling too, into a trancelike state where she couldn’t process anything but the rushing of wind, though she wasn’t sure if that was in her head or in the apartment. Instinctively, her hands groped for something to steady her fall, and one of them found the solid muscle of Natsu’s upper arm. Just grateful to have something to anchor her to reality rather than plummet into the chasm that had formed into her mind, the rest of her body followed suit and she fell against the dragon-slayer. As she came out of the strange spell, she found that she was panting heavily and was shivering. “Hey! Lucy! Are you okay?” Natsu asked her worriedly. He was holding the bowl of cookie dough above his head, because she had nearly knocked it free, but his other arm was wrapped securely around her waist. Lucy could have lied, but she was too tired to.

“No… Natsu… I don’t feel good…” Somehow a switch had flipped in her, and all her energy had dissipated in that very moment. It was hard for her to even stand, she was so weak, and so she just clung to Natsu for support. She was also too tired to care about what a compromising and embarrassing situation she had landed in, and the warmth radiating from his body was oddly comforting. _It feels so nice,_ she thought absently as she pressed her cheek against his chest, her eyes fluttering as she struggled to keep them open. She felt like she could fall asleep right there.

“Lucy! You’re really pale now!” Happy cried while clambering up onto her kitchen table to stand next to Natsu. He put a little blue paw against her forehead, the recoiled with a yelp. “Yowch! Lucy, you’re running a _really_ high fever!”

“Here, Happy, hold this,” Natsu ordered and unceremoniously dropped the bowl onto Happy, who caught it with all his weight by essentially being trapped beneath it. His little limbs and tail flung about as he struggled to get out from beneath it, while Natsu, too concerned with Lucy to notice, put his hand under her chin to tilt her head up and pressed his forehead against hers. Even in her confusion, she did have the wherewithal to blush then, and she had to wonder how much that heat would contribute to the fever. “Mhmm. Lucy, you’re really sick,” Natsu confirmed. As he pulled away, Lucy had to fight the urge to pull him back, because something about that closeness was so important to her right then. That moment was ruined when she abruptly sneezed.

“Aw, Lucy, your sneeze is so cute!” Happy laughed as he popped up from behind the bowl, having finally made his harrowing escape. “Do it again!”

“Happy, I-“ Though she wasn’t, her body was more than willing to acquiesce to his request, and she covered her face as she sneezed again, this time a few times in a row. When her body settled, she was left feeling weaker than before, and her nose and face uncomfortably clogged. “Ugh…”

“All right, all right, enough of that,” Natsu scolded Happy, who flattened his ears to his head with a sheepish grin. “Lucy needs to rest.” _I **was** resting until you so rudely interrupted me, _she thought, but she strangely wasn’t so bitter about it. Somehow Natsu being there was comforting. Still, she had to get back into bed, so she begrudgingly pried herself off of him and attempted to walk down the hall back towards her room. That was a spectacular choice on her part that resulted in her flopping roughly against the wall and smacking her head on it so forcefully that a few of the pictures hung there shook.

“Ow…”

“Lucy!” Natsu was at her side in an instant, catching her under her arms as she slumped backwards; it was like he was magnetic, attracting her frail body back to him though she tried to separate herself. “Don’t push yourself.” She was about to utter some stubborn remark and reattempt the endeavor, but her words and her will suddenly vanished as Natsu easily scooped her up into his arms. The heat of embarrassment joined that of the fever in her face, and she hurriedly buried it into his shoulder so that he wouldn’t see, though he would likely assume the redness was a result of her ailment, anyway. She wasn’t sure why she was so flustered, anyway. She had ended up in a lot of compromising situations with him across their adventures, and being carried around like a princess was certainly on the lower end of the scale. _So why is my heart beating so fast?_ Butterflies began to flutter in her stomach in tune with her elevated heartbeat, leaving Lucy in a twisted symphony of anxiety.

“Natsu, you can put me down…” she protested weakly. Natsu, of course, adamantly shook his head while marching down the hallway. With a resigned sigh, she just curled up in his arms, admittedly lulled by that ever-present fiery heat of his and the rhythm of his heartbeat. It wasn’t beating wildly like Lucy’s, but soft and slow, strangely meshing with her own frantic melody. “I’m sorry…”

“What’re you apologizing for? I’m the one who broke into your house and made you wake up while you were sick.” _So he admits it,_ she thought wryly. He nudged her bedroom door open with his toe and carried her into the room, then shifted her so he could support her with one arm while he threw back the bedsheets. Lucy found that positively breathtaking for some reason, that he could hold her with one arm like that so effortlessly, but that thought soon passed into embarrassment. _Ugh, what’s wrong with me? Natsu can beat up dragons; of course he can hold me in one arm. Half the guys at the guild could!_ But the fact that Natsu could and Natsu _was_ made the fire on her cheeks burn all the brighter.

“I don’t know. I’m not used to being catered to like this, I guess,” she sighed as he gently set her down on the bed. She looked up at him bashfully- if she had been cute, her body ruined it with an ugly, congested sniffle- and squirmed slightly on the mattress in quiet discomfort. Natsu was her friend, so of course he would want to take care of her while she was sick. She just didn’t know why the whole situation was driving her so crazy. _It’s just Natsu! Normal, everyday, brave, strong, handsome Natsu… Wait._ She put her hands on her face, trying to hide the expression of acute mortification on her face, but Natsu just thought she was trying to warm her face up.

“Here, Lucy, lemme do it.” She squeaked in alarm as he pried her fingers away from her face and squatted down to lay the backs of his hands against her cheeks. It _did_ feel crazy good; as the warmth chased away the ice in her skin, she slumped slightly in relief. Her face shone with a thin sheen of sweat, but if he was bothered by it, he didn’t show it. He just stared into Lucy’s face with this oddly serious expression, his eyes searching hers for something, and though she didn’t know what he was looking for she didn’t want him to find what was hidden in the depths of those blue pools, and she dropped her gaze, unable to continue to meet his. Not to mention the gloom and moonlight were playing all kinds of tricks on her eyes, casting his fluffy hair in silver in such a way that she wanted to run her fingers through it, defining his muscles more sharply to where she could hardly look away, and his _face-_ “Lucy, it’s okay. I don’t mind taking care of you at all!” She betrayed herself by looking up at him, and he was the same as ever, giving her a big, cheeky smile, the one that made his eyes scrunch up. Whatever had been there before had disappeared. _It’s just my Natsu…_

When had “just Natsu” become “ _her_ Natsu”? It was too much for her to think about right then, so she abandoned herself to whatever had come over her and sank into the comfort that Natsu was.

“Okay… I guess it’s a good thing you broke into my house,” she chuckled weakly before falling back against the pillow. As he pulled the blanket back over her, she was reminded of how chilly she was, and as she shivered violently, she tried to cocoon herself in the sheet and comforter. As Natsu walked over to the window to close it, she stared at his back, a question hanging on her tongue. It jumped out before she could even decide whether she should ask it or not. “You’ll stay with me all night, right?”

“Of course!” That was her Natsu, without a second thought. His scarf fluttered as he whirled about and trotted over to sit on the edge of her bed, cross-legged and framed by the white moonlight. “I’m not leaving until you’re better.” Lucy’s heart swelled, with happiness and something else too, something she couldn’t identify- or was afraid of identifying. Not caring anymore about the riddle that was happening in her head, and desperate to chase away the chill that was seeping into her bones, she scooched a little closer to him in the hopes of basking herself in his warmth. She was shaking so hard now that the bed trembled along with her, and her teeth were slightly clattering together. _I’m so cold…_ She squeezed her eyes shut as she buried herself further in the blankets, trying to conserve what little warmth she had. She knew she must have felt hot on the surface, because sweat was pouring off her so profusely that it puddled around her hair on the pillow, but it was like the drops of moisture were stealing all her heat. She felt Natsu get up, and go rifling around in her hallway closet for a few minutes, before she heard his soft footsteps coming back in and felt him draping another thick blanket over her. “Better?”

She wanted it to be, but no matter how many layers of blankets there were, it didn’t stop the warmth from leaking out of her body. It felt like she was freezing to death. The tremors wracking her body had actually increased in ferocity, and she couldn’t speak because her teeth were clattering together so hard, she thought they might break, and her breath was shaking, too. She slipped back into delirium again, this time her mind a slave to the cold. It felt like her brain was freezing, too, crystallized on one thought. _Natsu… I want Natsu… Natsu’s warmth…_ Despite her shivering she managed to slip an arm out of her fluffy cocoon and groped around in the dark for him, though she couldn’t see him. Even her vision was filled with snowflakes, dancing in the dark and clouding her eyes like a blizzard. Suddenly she became overwhelmingly terrified that he had left.

“N-N-nat-s-su… Wh-where a-a-are y-y-you?” The words were next to impossible to get out, but she was _desperate_ for him, _her_ Natsu, who was always there when she needed him. Even if she wanted to think about how she felt about him then, she couldn’t, as her mind fell deeper into the icy hurricane. _Natsu…!_

“I’m here, Lucy.”

At once, the blizzard ceased, and Lucy felt the soothing sensation of warmth flooding back into her body. She gasped slightly as she felt something soft slipping around her neck, wqamring her further. She raised her hand to slip her rapidly thawing fingers into the fabric; it felt odd, woven of scales but yet undeniably soft and comforting. _Natsu’s scarf…_ It was quite too big for her, and was wrapped several times around her neck and covering her mouth. It smelled like Natsu, too, and as his scent wafted up her nose she felt all kinds of things, comfort and embarrassment and happiness and all things between. She felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes, so overwhelmed that he would give her his most prized and precious possession, even if only temporarily. Her eyes fluttered open, a gratuitous remark on her tongue, but it jumped back down her throat when she realized that Natsu had crawled into the bed and was currently holding her tightly within his arms. “Natsu…”

“You did this for me once, didn’t you?” That’s right, she had, during the decisive battle with Zeref. Natsu had been so deathly cold, and she had been so frightened that he would die. Her cheeks flushed as he smiled brightly down at her. “I figured the least I could do was return the favor. Are you better now, Lucy?” Lucy was mildly distraught to be in such a situation, wrapped up in Natsu’s embrace, but he was viewing the entire thing in that innocent way of his, and besides, she sure as hell wasn’t going to go back to freezing like that.

“Mhmm. Thank you,” she sighed quietly and, admittedly wishing for more of his body heat to warm her, pressed herself a little closer to him and laid her head in the crook of his neck. Perhaps she imagined it, but she felt like Natsu stiffened up a little then. She felt his hand twitch, and then slowly slide his fingers to the back of her head to gently caress the tangled, blonde tresses. Silence descended, and the soft rhythm of Natsu’s breathing and the gentle comfort of his warmth and the repeated touch of his fingertips through her hair soon lulled Lucy back into a drowsy state. As her eyelids were drooping and her consciousness once more fading, he spoke up.

“Hey, Lucy?”

“Hmm?” He squirmed uncomfortably, and once Lucy realized that he seemed to be struggling with what he was going to say, she propped herself up so that she could look down at him. It was hard to tell with the way the moonlight was spilling across his face, but she thought she could see a pink haze across his cheeks; he was avoiding eye contact, too, looking off to the side with an uncomfortable curl to his mouth. “Natsu?” Her eyes widened as his arm tightened around her.

“Can I… hold you like this… even when you aren’t sick?” The question threw Lucy for a loop, and all she could do was stare dumbly down at him with her mouth hanging open. No, it couldn’t possibly be. Natsu? No, their relationship wasn’t like that… But yet, she thought of him as _her_ Natsu, so really, was it so impossible that he thought of her as _his_ Lucy? She tensed when his gaze flicked back to meet hers finally, and Lucy saw a fire burning there, but it wasn’t like the fire he normally had. It was soft, smoldering, and yet held more intensity than the burning flames that appeared in his highly emotional, battle-ready state. The flames jumped up as his hand untangled from her hair and slipped down to cup her cheek. “Heh… Your face is warm now,” he joked quietly, but he didn’t lose that oddly intense expression that was making Lucy’s heart beat like a war drum. Locked in his gaze, prisoner to that burning fire, possibly insane from her present illness, Lucy realized the undeniable truth then.

She loved Natsu.

Natsu loved her.

She found her words.

“Yes, Natsu.” They came out a whisper, shy but not hesitant. He finally smiled, that crooked, boyish smile that she loved so much. When he pulled her against him, like he wanted every inch of them to touch, she found that this time his heart was beating in a wild melody, too. His hand slid to the back of her head against, holding her gently as his eyes searched her face for a moment. This time Lucy was not afraid of what he might find.

“I love you, Lucy.”

“I love you too, Natsu,” she answered, and the sheer joy that filled her when she uttered those words was unlike anything she had ever felt. It was like she had been holding it in, desperately building a wall to contain feelings she was afraid of having, and now they had broken free to spill freely through her. Natsu smiled brightly at her again, and then he leaned forward to gently kiss her, softly but with an incredible amount of feeling. Once again Lucy felt warmth burst inside of her, this time from the unmistakable fire of love burning deep inside her heart and soul.

She was his Lucy and he was her Natsu, and nothing could ever come between them.

Except Happy, apparently.

“The cookies are doooooone~!” They sprang apart as the little cat hopped up onto the bed precariously balancing a tray of freshly baked cookies over his head. He wobbled back and forth as he tottered over the thick comforters to plop down on Lucy’s side, his little tail waving in glee. “Oh, Lucy! You look so much better! Want a cookie?” he asked and set the tray down to pick one up in his little paw and hold it out to her. Lucy couldn’t be mad, and was actually grateful he seemed oblivious to how intimate she and Natsu were just being, so she took the cookie with a small laugh.

“Thanks, Happy.” She took a bite of the cookie, then nearly choked on it when the cat inquired why they were in bed together.

“I was warming her up, Happy! Just like that time she did me, remember?” Natsu grinned and hugged her tightly, rubbing his cheek against hers. Lucy was too busy on the border of fainting from sheer mortification to pay much notice.

“Oh! I see! I wanna warm Lucy up too!” Happy laughed and plopped the cookies on the nightstand before forcing Lucy to lay back against the pillow and curling up against Lucy’s neck. “Is it working?” Red-faced, Lucy sighed deeply but reached up to pat his head affectionately.

“Yes, thank you, Happy.” The winged cat gave a joyful trill before snuggling deeper into his bed, which now consisted of Lucy’s hair. It took him all of a minute to begin snoring. _Little furball,_ she thought, but with no shortage of affection. She looked down when she felt Natsu bury his face into her other shoulder, his mess of pink hair lost among her own blonde strands. “Hey!”

“What? If he gets to do it, why don’t I? By the way, you smell good. What kind of shampoo is this?” Lucy groaned loudly, but allowed it. She smiled as she felt Natsu smiling against her neck, and his arms wound themselves tightly around her middle; how could she not be happy, with the way things had developed? Natsu mumbled some form of “goodnight” before he drifted off too, and every soft breeze of his breath against her neck sent little tingles across her skin. Warmed from head to toe, embraced by the man she loved, and elated to even have little Happy peacefully curled up beside her head, Lucy closed her eyes with a tranquil and relieved smile.

_Like this… You could keep me warm forever, you know._

“Goodnight… my Natsu.”

 


	7. Heartbeat

Category: Romantic Fluff

Characters: Gray Fullbuster and Lucy Heartfilia

Requested By: Anonymous User

“Lucy, are you all right?”

Lucy was brought out of her melancholy contemplation at the sound of Gray’s voice, and she quickly raised a hand to dry the tears still leaking from her eyes. They were currently sitting side-by-side on a bench in the deserted streets of Magnolia. Lucy clutched the book of E.N.D. tightly in her quivering, bruised and scratched arms as she looked up at him.

“Yes, thank you.” A silence fell between them, and then she tentatively asked, “You’re not going to try and destroy the book again, right, Gray?” As if he had already answered negatively, she pulled the book closer to her chest and turned her body away from him, as if she could shield Natsu like that. A shocked- and uncomfortably hurt- expression form on Gray’s face and she immediately regretted acting in such a way.

“Of course not! If I’d have known it would’ve done anything to Natsu, I wouldn’t have tried in the first place!” _Good… He’s cooled down, then._ Lucy’s eyes flickered down to his right arm, currently swathed in bandages, and remembered the writhing, swirling bands of demon-slayer magic that he had obtained from his father Silver- the magic that came with the will to destroy E.N.D. Overtaken by that power and rage, Gray had nearly succeeded- even though it would’ve meant killing Natsu. Erza had stopped him then, and then it had taken Lucy to stop him from destroying the book and nearly killing Natsu again. _Gray doesn’t want to hurt Natsu. I know that. He wants to save him as much as I do._ Still, after seeing him so distorted, she couldn’t help but be a little uneasy. Suddenly, she leaned over to press her face into the crook of Gray’s shoulder, and she felt him tense up. Lucy was exhausted, so she righteously didn’t care about pretenses or propriety. Her emotions were boiling at the surface, threatening to spill over.

“Gray… Don’t lose yourself, okay?” She expected an angry retort or a “What the hell are you talking about?” but Gray knew exactly what she meant. She felt his body relax as he exhaled deeply.

“Yeah. I know, Lucy.” She was oddly quite contented with just staying like that, resting her head against his sturdy shoulder, but there was matters to be dealt with. With a small, sad frown, she raised her head and looked down at the worn, leather-bound tome containing Natsu’s doom or salvation. The First’s riddle echoed in her mind. _“That’s when you will have to save Natsu! Use the power of your friendship to do it!”_

“I think we should open the book! I think I get what the first master was talking about!” Happy quipped from her feet with his little furry eyebrows narrowed. As Lucy stared resolutely down at the book, she thought that maybe she was beginning to understand a little what Mavis had meant, too. _The key to saving Natsu is in this book, no doubt about it._ Lucy steeled her determination and gripped the leather binding of the book tightly.

“Yes!”

As Lucy set the book on her lap and prepared to open it, the universe seemed to draw in its breath; the wind died, and the only sound was the gurgling of a fountain across the plaza. She felt Gray’s tense muscles, his arms crossed, as he pressed a little closer to her and leaned over her shoulder to watch. Despite the gravity of the moment, a blush tainted Lucy’s cheeks. _Now’s not the time for that…_ she reminded herself before taking a deep breath and opening the cover of the book. There was a moment of nothing but tension and silence, the breath she was holding feeling like a bubble in her chest ready to burst, and then everything exploded at once. She released the breath in the form of an alarmed gasp as light burst from the book, so forceful that her pigtails fluttered about her shoulders and her bangs waved in her face, and she could literally _feel_ it, like cool water flowing over her chest and body. Then words began to spill from the pages, swirling in the air around the two of them and in the space above their heads.

“Th-the letters…” She looked at Gray to find him wearing a similarly awed and shocked face, his dark hair glowing a bluish hue in the ephemeral light, and in yet another inappropriate moment of lunacy Lucy thought that he looked beautiful cast in the light like that. When a stream of the inked words flew by her face, she was reminded at the task at hand, and she looked above her head at the spherical mass of paragraphs and sentences whirling above them.

“Look at all of them! Are they really _all_ about Natsu?” she wondered aloud. Her eyebrows furrowed as her blue eyes expertly followed the stream of words, and a slow realization dawned on her. “Wait a minute… These…” Before she could finish the thought, the world heaved, and the book snapped shut as she and Gray were flung from the bench and into the air. As the world rumbled below, the air vibrated with the shockwaves, shaking Lucy’s already battered body violently. She did her best to cling to the book as the rumbling began to cease and she plummeted back toward Earth. As she curled around it, expecting a rough impact, she suddenly felt someone grab her in midair. A second later she felt they hit the ground, but rather than unforgiving earth, Lucy was cushioned by Gray’s embrace. Momentarily forgetting the book, she pushed herself up and looked down at him in alarm. “Gray! Are you okay? Why did you do that? You shouldn’t be worried about me when you’re all beat up!” she insisted wildly. It was then that she noticed she was basically straddling him, one knee between his legs and the other at his hip, his arms around her waist while her reddening face hovered above his. He cracked an eye open to grimace at her.

“Stop yelling. You’re spitting in my face,” he grumbled as he slipped one arm from her body to rub the back of his head. “Ow… What the hell was that?” Gray seemed perfectly unaware of how embarrassing their current situation was, while Lucy was just blank, her mind misfiring as it attempted to process.

“It came from the guild!” Happy groaned while sitting up. As Lucy finally began to come to her senses, Gray grabbed her by the hips to hold her steady while he sat up, bringing her body with his. Feeling his hands against the bare skin of her waist (as she had, of course, lost her shirt in the conflict like she always did) made her nerve blaze like Laxus had struck her with lightning, and she could only dumbly sit there holding the book, practically in his lap, while he peered in her face.

“You okay, Lucy?”

“Oh! Yes! I’m fine!” she squeaked. She finally had the wherewithal to make her body move, and hastily disentangled herself from him to sit beside him. If she didn’t know better, he looked disappointed. “What were all those flying letters?” That question snapped Lucy back to attention. She pushed aside all the embarrassing hugging and holding and looked down at the book. It hadn’t changed.

“It looks like the words are still in the book… This is really high-level Organic Link magic.” She was sure of it, after reading them in the air as they swirled about. “I think that’s how the book is connected to Natsu. In other words, if we could rewrite the words…” she trailed off as she stared hard down at it, riddling out what she needed to do to save Natsu’s life.

“What? Rewrite all of _that_?” Gray exclaimed as he looked over her shoulder down at the unassuming volume. She was too absorbed in her problem-solving to bark at him for yelling in her ear. “We opened one page, and look how much came out of it! That’s only a small fraction-“

“We don’t have to rewrite it all,” she interrupted as she ran a hand over the cover. It was rough, and torn, and scratched up. Imperfect. A smile came to her lips. Just like Natsu. Just like Gray. Just like her, and everyone else in the guild. She looked up at Gray, her expression growing serious. “I’m sure there’s a page in here that can save Natsu! We have to find it! I’m certain that is what the First Master meant!” Judging from the force of that tremor and blast, Natsu was fighting his hardest. That meant that they had to fight their hardest to save him, too. Lucy opened the book again, and once more the letters began to float off the pages and careen through the air around them.

Except this time, something was different.

Lucy’s eyes widened as the letters began to literally pop out of existence, disappearing from the links of letters with continuous _blam, blam, blams!_

“Did something happen to Natsu?!” Gray cried, his head swiveling about as the letters continued to disappear one by one. Lucy was silent for a moment, analyzing the continuously moving text and memorizing the vanishing letters because she knew it was important, until she realized just what had happened and her face grew pale and her eyes wide in horror.

“It’s a part of his body! He’s hurt very badly somewhere!” Reigning in her emotions, she took her magic pen and sat up on her knees, preparing to re-ink the words. Her mouth twitched a little as Gray grabbed her by the hips again to steady her as she wobbled slightly from exertion. _Focus, Lucy._

“Do you know how to rewrite it?” he asked. _Completely oblivious to how this looks… Just deal with it. Natsu is in danger!_

“I’m only going to rewrite the missing letters right now. I memorized them,” she answered and began filling in the gaps in the stream of letters, her blue eyes flicking from one hole to the next while her hand scrawled in the missing text. In a matter of seconds, she had replaced all the missing characters, and she was confident that she had avoided Natsu’s death.

“Amazing, Lucy!” Hearing Gray gush in praise, especially so close to her, admittedly made her flush with a mixture of joy and unease. Before she could say or do anything, though, she felt every cell in her body pulse, and her head twitched back as she felt magic power flooding into her arm, pulsing up her veins to begin spreading through her face and neck. _I-I… It hurts… I can’t move!_ Sweat began to pour from her body as she struggled to remain in control of herself, and her consciousness began slipping away. Her mind crystallized on one thought.

“G-Gray…”

 

Gray jumped forward as Lucy’s body began twitching uncontrollably in his arms, and as she fell back against his chest, he could feel that her body was immensely hot, and sweat was pouring off of her.

“Lucy! Snap out of it!” As her head flopped backwards onto his shoulder, her blue eyes stared unseeing up towards the sky filled with the words of Natsu’s fate, and dark magic had filled her veins, dying them a bloody red. Her entire body was shaking violently, and her breath began to come in ragged, labored gasps. He grabbed her by the shoulders to hold her in place and she immediately recoiled, like his touch caused her immense pain. Suddenly she seemed to return to her senses and her face scrunched up in pain, and she once more buried her face into the crook of his neck. He could feel the tears spilling from her eyes as they smudged across his skin. “Come on, Lucy! You gotta stay strong!”

“I feel hot…” Her voice was a breathy, agonized whisper. “Something… Something inside me is _burning_!” She turned into him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her body against him as if he could cool her. Lucy seemed to be embarrassed about their closeness earlier (which he had blatantly ignored because, well, he wanted to), but in the throes of the magic backfire she didn’t seem to care anymore. Gray hated seeing her in pain like this, and he tightened his grip around her while at the same time holding her as gently as he could.

“It must be Natsu’s fire,” Happy reasoned as he watched uncomfortably, his tail twitching. Gray’s mouth curled into a frown as he clutched Lucy’s frail, jerking body. _The flame of the demon._ Lucy faltered into him for a second, then managed to straighten up with a groan, lifting her head to stare back up at the magical words.

“If… If I can understand this magic, maybe I can help Natsu!” Gray knew that if she kept it up, she would be even worse off. Once again, like so many times before, he was absolutely amazed at her strength. “I can rewrite the demon inside him.” She doubled over again, grimacing and holding a hand to her face as she shook violently.

“Lucy, if you keep going, you’ll-“

“I’m fine, Happy,” she huffed, a clear indication she was not fine. Gray knew that she would keep going no matter what, so he did the only thing he knew how to do. He propped his chin on Lucy’s shoulder as he pulled her close, and a writhing white wind began to swirl around them, bringing frost and chill with it. “That’s cold-!” she cried as she shuddered again, but the heat inside her body had dimmed somewhat.

“Let’s save Natsu together. I can’t rewrite those letters… But I can support you while _you_ do.” He didn’t see her smile, but he knew she did, that sweet smile she always gave.

Gray wasn’t sure of the moment he started to love her. He wondered sometimes, but he wasn’t a real sentimental guy so he didn’t dwell on it. He _did_ love her, though, and knowing that was enough. He probably should have told her sooner, but somehow the moment never called for it; he needed to focus on not dying and keeping everyone else from not dying, and he always told himself he would tell her after. _After_ kept getting further and further away, though. As Lucy clung to him, one arm around his neck and her body against his while she continued to painstakingly, painfully rewrite the script of Natsu’s soul, he promised himself then that he wasn’t going to wait anymore. He closed his eyes, focusing on keeping the air around them as bitterly cold as possible to mitigate Lucy’s suffering. Amongst the swirling wind, something else emerged in the background, faint at first. As he focused on it, it became clearer and louder, until it dominated his senses.

A heartbeat. _Lucy’s_ heartbeat.

It was a thumping drum amidst the symphony of icy gales that he had conjured. As he focused on it more, he could feel her heart beating against his chest. It was fast, probably because she was working so hard keeping the demonic magic at bay. Gray didn’t know why it mattered so much in that moment. Maybe because it was because he knew if he could still heard it, Lucy was okay- so he hung onto it, that rhythmic sound, the sound of her heart beating.

Gray wasn’t sure how many minutes passed before she slumped back into him, her arm falling and the magic pen clattering to the ground. Her shifted her to her side to look down at the book in her lap, and they watched as the letters began to return to the pages. “You did it, Lucy,” he smiled down at her. She gave him that sweet smile again, and then her face contorted in agony, her back arching as her entire arm pulsed red. She then fell limp, losing consciousness as she was unable to resist the magic any longer. Gray wasn’t worried, though.

“Lucy!” Happy wailed and rushed over to her.

“Don’t worry, Happy. My demon-slayer magic is made for this! I’ll get this magic out of Lucy!” he said as his own magic spread up his arm and over his eye. He grabbed her by the wrist, using his own magic to forcibly draw the virus-like magic out of the girl. It was as if suddenly he had brought her back to life, as she jumped up and began coughing and hacking. Gray held her up as she recovered from the ordeal. “Are you okay now, Lucy?”

“Yes… Thank you, Gray.” _There’s that smile again…_ They looked down to see the book glowing faintly, and the edges blurring before dissolving in globs of light. “The book is vanishing. Zeref has been defeated.”

“but-! But if the book disappears, so will Natsu!” Happy cried as teared filled his eyes. Lucy grabbed Happy and hugged him to her chest, then put an arm around Gray and buried herself into him, quivering. Gray propped his chin on the top of her head, listening to her frantic, scared heartbeat pounding against his own while he watched the book continue to fade. He didn’t know what was about to happen, and he held his breath as the book faded completely and disappeared in waves of light into the sky. He felt Lucy’s body jerk as she stifled a sob.

They all looked up with a jolt as they heard the soft scrape of sandals against the pavement.

Down the path, staggering like a drunk but very much alive, was Natsu Dragneel.

“Yo!” he grinned at them with a lazy wave. “It’s all over.” Lucy clapped her hands to her mouth as the tears of joy spilled from her eyes, and Happy jumped from her arms to spawn his wings and zoom over to his beloved friend with a cry of glee. Lucy was much to weak to do so, so she just rested comfortably against Gray- not that he was gonna complain. Happy nuzzled Natsu joyfully for a moment until the dragon-slayer settled him down and looked at Lucy and Gray with a serious expression. “Hey… I don’t think the First Master made it.” The joyful atmosphere was obliterated in an instant. “I don’t think she would want us to be sad, though. I have this weird feeling… She wanted it to end this way.”

“That right?” Gray mused. It was definitely a Natsu thing to say.

“Yeah! So,” that big grin of his appeared on his beat-up, bruised face. “Let’s return to the guild with big smiles on our faces, yeah?” They were all in agreement, of course. Natsu turned to start heading back to the guild, and Lucy rose to follow but wobbled precariously.

“Yo, Natsu! Lucy and I will catch up in a sec, okay?” he called after him as he grabbed ahold of her wrist to keep her there, for which she looked down at him quizzically. Natsu didn’t even bother to turn, just signaled that he had heard with another lazy wave. Lucy was still staring at him in confusion as he stood up.

“Huh? Gray, what is it?”

Gray was never really good with words. He was a man of action- so act he did, by grabbing Lucy under the chin to pull her face up and kiss her. He smothered a squeak of alarm and resistance, and she grabbed onto his bandages since his shirt wasn’t there, but her fingers uncurled after a second to spread out over his chest, right over where his heart was beating. Gray held the kiss for a few seconds, and when he pulled back, her eyelashes fluttered and her eyes opened to reveal blue pools swirling with both happiness and befuddlement.

“You didn’t have to take me by surprise like that,” she pouted.

“I didn’t feel like talking. What? You not like or something?”

“N-no, it’s… Not that…” She grew flustered and embarrassed, looking down at her feet as she blushed. _She’s cute when she does that._ “I, um… You too. I mean, I uh… Feel the same…” As she struggled with voicing her emotions, she hid her face in her hands miserably. Gray snorted with laughter and patted her on the head.

“See now why I didn’t _say_ it?” All he got was a begrudging whine, which made him laugh again. While she was distracted with short-circuiting, he decided to keep teasing her and easily scooped her into his arms like a groom would his bride.

“Ack! Gray! Hey! I can walk, y’know?” she protested weakly, but fell still after a few kicks of her feet once she realized she was too tired. She looked at him with pursed lips as she curled into him, her slim arm sliding around his neck to fiddle with the ends of his dark hair. “Juvia’s gonna kill me, you know.”

“I can handle her,” he chuckled and began walking after Natsu, who had disappeared into the ruins of the city. She laid her head on his shoulder, eyes drooping as she continued to smile that sweet, sweet smile he loved so damn much.

“Do you think it’s over?”

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter,” he said and looked down at her with a smirk. “We’ll keep fighting together, no matter what.”

“M-hmm,” she nodded in agreement. Ahe fiddled with his hair continuously, her fingers sliding in and out of the blue-black strands and curling them around her fingertips; his hair was obviously her favorite part about him. He suddenly got an idea. She squeaked as he lifted her up a bit to press his ear against her chest. “Gray! Hey!” He could hear it there, that soft flutter and steady drum.

“Shut up, I just wanted to hear your heartbeat a minute.” He couldn’t decide now if he liked that more than her smile.

“… You’re so weird…” He looked up to scowl at her and found her face pink, meaning that she also found it incredibly _romantic_. He grinned and settled her back into his arms as he strode down the ruined streets of Magnolia, on to an unknown future.

Well, it wasn’t _entirely_ unknown. It would have Lucy in it, for sure.


	8. One for the Memories

Category: Friendship Fluff, Comedy, Mild Romantic Fluff

Characters: Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser, and Lyon Vastia

Requested By: Ella (Ao3)

To be honest, Lucy was quite unsure what to think as she stood beside Gray and Juvia in the secluded office where the Master had requested to speak privately with them. It wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary if it were Natsu and Gray, maybe Erza too, considering how destructive the lot of them were and Lucy usually normally ended up being dragged into the scolding after their latest escapade, but she had to admit that the ice mage and the water mage were an odd pair. The two of them seemed not to have the same considerations; Juvia was purring with delight as she hung on the muscle of Gray’s upper arm and whispering sweet nothings with the occasional intense glare in Lucy’s direction, while the object of her affections was attempting to pry her cheek from his arm and grimacing in embarrassment. When the Master appeared with a slight cough, the attention of the three was captured, eager to learn what the old man had summoned them together for.

“A very nice opportunity for the guild has presented itself. The nationally-renowned Sorcerer Magazine has requested a photoshoot of the three of you that will be the main feature of the next issue,” he explained, and Lucy’s eyes widened in shock. Model-quality beauties like Mirajane were featured in the magazine quite often, but this was the first time Lucy had been afforded the opportunity; for a brief second she swelled with pride with the thought of _It’s about time!_ before her heart slammed into her ribcage as it came to a screeching halt; Lucy had never modeled before, and that unnerved her. Juvia and Gray seemed unperturbed; Gray was his usual indifferent self, even deigning to groan about what a useless venture it was, while Juvia squealed and hearts beat in her eyes at the thought of being in a photoshoot with her darling ice mage. When she realized that Lucy was also to be featured though, she peered around his front with a low grumble.

“Stay away from my darling Gray, love rival.” Lucy had gotten quite used to Juvia’s accusations and her teeter-totter attitude; when it came down to it, Juvia would back her up in tough situations, and that’s all that mattered. Still, it was a bit tiring to constantly be accused of harboring feelings for the man when she had nothing of the sort.

“You don’t have to tell me twice, Juvia.”

“What?! How dare you insult Gray! Take it back!” Lucy just rolled her eyes as steam poured from the water-woman’s ears, and focused on what the hell she was going to do about the modeling shoot.

They met the photographer the next day at the train station. They had been informed that a member from another guild would be also part of the modeling shoot, and while Gray ran around with a lovestruck Juvia chasing him around in circles leaving little hearts in her wake, Lucy wondered who it could be. There were a number of heartthrobs, both male and female, in the guild world, many of whom she had met during the Grand Magic Games just a few weeks before. As her mind flew through the many possibilities, she did not notice the train arrive and the last member of their quartet arrive until the photographer gleefully shouted, “Cool, cool, now everyone is here!”

“ _What_?!” Gray and the newly-arrived Lyon shouted in unison and pointed at each other with the color draining from their faces. Gray continued to stare with his mouth agape and eye twitching, while his rival in ice magic quickly regained his composure and sidled over to Juvia with ice swirling in his hand to form a fluttering dove.

“My darling Juvia, how lovely it is to see you again~”

“Ugh, I’m going to spend all day trapped in some twisted love triangle,” Lucy muttered under her breath as Juvia proceeded to jump behind Gray and peer at Lyon with waves of refusal rolling off her; Lyon deflated with a defeated sigh, the dove fluttering off as if it did not witness the crushing rejection before dissolving into sparkling ice. The photographer was blissfully unaware of the love being thrown around the train station; with another gleeful, “Cool, cool!” he jumped between the troop of wizards and announced that they would soon board the train for their photoshoot destination.

Once they were settled into their booth and trying to ignore the messy love tangle that was still unfolding around her, Lucy decided to approach the photographer with the questions that had been burning on her tongue all the while.

“Where will the photoshoot be held?”

“Oh, yes, yes! We’ll be visiting a town nearby called Crystalwake! It’s one of the most famous vacation spots in the entire country, known for its crystalline shores and crystal-clear waters!” he announced with almost too much enthusiasm. Lucy couldn’t help but mirror it, clasping her hands together with an excited squeal while her blue eyes sparkled like the diamond lights playing across the famous waters of the aforementioned beach town.

“Really?! Crystalwake? Oh, I’ve always wanted to go there!” she trilled as she squirmed excitedly in her seat, a scowl gradually deepening on both Gray and Juvia’s faces as her body rubbed up against his. She distinctly heard Gray mumble, “What’s the big deal?” while Lyon was once again trying to shoot his shot at Juvia and falling utterly short. The venue had been featured multiple times across many magazines in all sorts of contexts, and Lucy thought it was simply the perfect spot for a photoshoot because it was so incredibly _romantic_. Once that word sprouted in her brain, however, her blissful train of thought came to a screeching halt in its tracks and she looked at the photographer with acute confusion and a slightly perceptible level of fear. “Wait, what kind of photoshoot is this?”

“I am _so_ glad you asked! Last issue, Sorcerer Magazine polled its readers concerning their favorite couples or potential couples within Fairy Tail with the caveat that they would be featured in a special photoshoot, and there were two that were overwhelmingly popular!” Instantly, Lucy was even more perplexed; people pinning Gray and Juvia as a couple wasn’t exactly surprising, but the fact that people could see her with Lyon, whom she had only had limited contact with, was quite exceptional. She would have thought for sure that she would be paired with Natsu, her actual team partner! “The top votes were Lucy and Gray, and Lyon and Juvia!” If her train of thought had come to a screeching halt before, it totally derailed this time. The entire train car became a symphony of their deranged screeches of disbelief; the mildly puzzled photographer just sat there blinking with the smile still on his lips as they all jumped to their feet and began screaming together in one frightening harmony.

“What? There’s no way that I can let my love rival be in a photoshoot with my Gray! Cancel it! And I want to know what crazy people even consider Lucy and Gray a couple!” Juvia shrieked, actually becoming fluid around the edges as she worked herself up to a near-boiling point.

“Juvia’s right! There must be some mistake! Me and Gray? I mean, who would think that up?” Lucy cried, mostly out of fear of retaliation if she expressed the fact that she was actually relieved to be paired with the ice mage that she actually knew.

“What the hell does _that_ mean, Lucy?” Gray frowned and leaned down over her to peer into her face with his eyebrows narrowed accusingly. Lucy flushed red, both out of his proximity and the fact that she had upset him with her hasty comment.

“I-I mean, of course I like you, Gray-“

“ _Love rival!”_ Juvia shrieked, her curling blue hair nearly whipping about like snakes as she dissolved further into fluid form, and the Celestial wizard hurriedly whipped around to laugh nervously and wave her hands in a dismissive gesture.  

“No, Juvia, that isn’t what I meant-“

“So you do want to do a photoshoot with me?” Gray asked with a devilish grin and his chin tilted up in a challenging gesture. Lucy deflated like a balloon as she took the assault on two sides. _This is turning out to be a much bigger pain than I thought!_

“I get to be in a photoshoot with Juvia! <3” Lyon howled as he clapped his hands giddily together, obviously the only one happy with the way that things had turned out. The photographer somehow managed to convince the fiery water wizard that the pairing would have to stay so as not to disappoint the readers, but it had been Gray quipping that Juvia needed to make her fans happy to finally get her to agree with the fact; still, the entire train ride to the beach, she was obviously seething with displeasure beside Lyon, who was giving off a bright aura of one who had achieved enlightenment and ascended to the astral plane.

Needless to say, Lucy’s head was hammering with headache by the time they stepped off the train.

Despite the twist of events, Lucy could not help but be cheered by the vacation spot’s atmosphere. The train station was open to the elements, allowing the salty breeze to waft in and kiss the soft skin of her bare arms and legs and leave and aftertaste on her lips as she strolled with the photoshoot party across the wooden planks that made up the boardwalk-like structure. The roof was simply a cloth pavilion made of thick fabric that flapped in the ever-present winds rolling off the waves she could hear crashing in the near distance. As they walked out from beneath the shade, the sun was there to greet her, offering her an embrace of its warm rays. Her headache was all but erased as she ran down the boardwalk to behold the famous shore, and as she leaned over the wooden railings with a hand to her eyes to take in the majesty of the beach, no magazine picture could have ever prepared her for its brilliance. It took her breath away.

The white sands stretched on in either direction for miles and miles, each individual grain sparkling like a shard of crystal as the sun’s bright rays struck its prism-like surface. The water was a shimmering cerulean, fading into sapphire as the depth increased towards the horizon; above the gently lapping waves, the sky was cloudless and brilliantly blue, the sun hovering at its highest point to bathe the beachgoers in its tanning streams. Gray and Lyon even seemed captivated by its majesty, and Juvia was able to forgo her ire to stand beside Lucy with her breath caught in her throat and her eyes drinking in every detail, watching the sailboats stream across the water leaving frothing wake behind. _It’s so beautiful…_

The photographer wasted no time in preparing them for the shoot. Soon after arriving, Lucy was standing with her toes in the surprisingly soft sand clad in a white bikini patterned with golden stars and a crescent moon curling across the left side of her chest, as an ode to her Celestial magic. Lyon and Gray were both in swim trunks that were inversions of each other, two-toned blues, while Juvia wore a stylish one-piece of misty blue-white with plunging sides filled in with tied strings and wave-like patterns trawling across the front. They were quite a tastefully clothed bunch, and though a large section of the beach had been partitioned off for the photoshoot, they were still attracting a large amount of attention from passersby. Lucy wanted to bask in the praise, maybe strike a suave pose or two, but her mind had returned to the fact that she had never done anything to the sort and worrying over that fact. She wanted to look beautiful, not like an awkward fool, after all. She silently fretted as the photographer began to give directions.

“All right! First, we’ll shoot some scenes in the water. We’ll start with Lucy and Gray. Will you two go about knee-deep in the water, please?”

“This is a pain,” Gray grunted as he accompanied Lucy out into the surf. She wasn’t sure why, because she was painfully used to seeing Gray half-naked running around in his boxers at this point, but her eyes navigated to his sculpted abs and his defined arm muscles; her words became a hard lump in her throat, preventing her from replying. It was undeniable that Gray was an eye-catching guy; how had she not noticed before now? He definitely noticed her lack of response and looked at her with a frown, making her jump violently and send water droplets skittering about as she reflexively slapped her hands against the water. “You’re acting weird.”

“Am not!” she refuted with red cheeks, which didn’t really make her argument all that strong. She blushed darker as he went to get in her face again, but thankfully that was interrupted by the photographer.

“Okay, cool, cool, that’s a good distance!” Lucy crossed her arms uncomfortably and turned away from Gray, but she didn’t want to necessarily look at the shore either because Juvia was currently trying to melt Lucy with her mere eyeballs. She focused instead at the water swirling around her upper calves; she could see straight through to the bottom like she was staring at liquid glass. Some seashells were half-buried in the sand around her, scallops and cats’ eyes and swirling drills and murexes; one of them was currently occupied by a little hermit crab who was doing his best to scuttle against the current. “A-ha! I’ve got it! Gray, take Lucy in your arms!”

“What?” Lucy gasped and looked at him incredulously, then screamed as her feet were suddenly swept out from under her. Within an instant she was being held securely in Gray’s arms; he looked blankly at the photographer.

“Like this?”

“Perfect! Cool, cool! Now, Lucy, put your arms around his neck.” Uncertainly, Lucy circled his neck with her arms, feeling highly uncomfortable with the entire thing. _I probably look like an idiot…_ she lamented silently as she felt her face burning, but tried to convince herself it was the intensity of the sun’s rays. “Great! Now, try to seem like a loving couple, please~” he twittered like a gull as he flapped about on the shoreline, the shutter of his camera already clicking wildly. Gray turned his pointed gaze on her, a hint of a smile on his lips and all manner of sexy; Lucy was highly certain she looked like a fish gasping for breath. “Lucy, dear, please try to look a little more relaxed!”

“Easier said than done,” she huffed, not realizing she had done so out loud.

“Come on, Lucy, lighten up. You said you wanted to come to this place, right? Forget about the camera and just pretend we’re having fun,” he smiled at her. Lucy puffed out her cheeks defiantly at him, but honestly forgot the camera in that instant because she was too focused on refuting him.

“Come on, Gray! I’m not Mirajane! This stuff doesn’t just come naturally to me!”

“Why not? You’re as beautiful as Mirajane.” Lucy’s previously derailed train of thought shot off into the sky, breaking through the atmosphere at the words that had just so easily slipped from Gray’s lips. He was smirking up at her, but she could not tell if he was serious or teasing; all the same, she could not keep the blissful smile from gracing her own mouth.

“You mean that?” The photographer’s cheers of “Cool, cool!” were lost on her as she bathed in the sun and Gray’s compliment. He nodded, and she could feel his fingers twirling through her long tresses of blonde hair, which she had decided to let fly free for the modeling gig. Lucy’s smile grew bright enough to rival the sun above, and the hint of pink that graced her cheeks was now a tint of joy. “Thanks, Gray.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he suddenly grinned wildly, and her scream was swallowed by the seawater as he abruptly dunked her into the ocean. She landed on her butt against the bottom, startling the hermit crab and sending him feverishly scurrying out towards deeper, safer water; as the current swirled in her ears, she could faintly hear Gray’s raucous howls of laughter. She came up spitting the foul salt water and glaring at him through stinging red eyes. “You should have seen the look on your face!” he cackled while holding his belly.

“You jerk!” she shouted and jumped up to push him roughly in his chest. She successfully disbalanced him and sent him down in a similar fashion; water streamed through his dark hair as he came up coughing, but before he could launch another attack on her, she splashed him in the face and started scampering back to shore.

“Come back here! I’m not through with you!” he growled and yanked her back by the ankle. She belly-flopped into the surf with a surprised yelp, and was dragged across the bottom before she was pulled up so Gray could put her in a headlock and started roughly ruffling her hair.

“Ow! Ow! Gray!” she cried, but the laughter made its way into her voice. Her limbs flapped about wildly as she tried to escape his grasp, and managed to loosen it just enough to turn around in his grip to start beating him in the side of the head. In that effort, though, they became disbalanced together and she ended up on top of him, legs on either side of his waist with his hands wrapped around her waist, water streaming off their bodies like one hundred waterfalls.

“Perfect! Cool, cool! You two are naturals!” the photographer was screeching in near mania, the shutter clicking as fast as his finger would allow without falling off. Lucy was panting with exertion as she sat atop Gray, and when she finally realized what she was doing and how borderline erotic of a position she was in, she squeaked and hastily scrambled off him. It was too late, though; she had already earned Juvia’s wrath, and no sooner than the water mage had stomped into the surf Lucy was blasted with a torrent of swirling water that sent her screeching into the deep blue. She came up several yards out, her hair plastered to her face and soaked from head to toe.

“Take _that_ , love rival!”

Sighing in resignation, Lucy paddled back to the point to where she could walk and began waded back through the surf. Gray came to the edge of the sandbar to help her, which the photographer eagerly recorded much to Juvia’s disappointment; as Lucy reached out to take his hand she stumbled in the thick, mud-like sand and instinctively looked down, and came upon the terrifying realization that by some bizarre incidence Gray had lost his shorts. She screamed and snapped her hands to her eyes, seeing far too much by the grace of the famous crystalline water, while Gray freaked out and began looking around for his swim trunks and a very unamused photographer informed him that this was not _that_ kind of photoshoot. Juvia had fainted and Lyon was trying to revive her with far too much joy at having the unconscious woman in his arms.

After Gray found his shorts it was time for Juvia and Lyon’s shoot, which mainly consisted of Lyon chasing a very unwilling Juvia through the surf that ironically looked like they were playing a consensual game of tag. After several more rounds of general poses and acts, it came time for the final photoset of Gray and Lucy’s. By then her mind had eased and she was putting little thought into how she looked; Gray had done a good job of boosting her confidence. This time they were directed to a setup of props- two towels that matched their outfits beneath a shady umbrella, with all the beachgoing amenities scattered about. They took a few benign ones at first, like on of Lucy on her belly with her legs pulled up and ankles crossed while she read a book, one of Gray staring out at the ocean waves with a popsicle hanging out of his mouth, one that the photographer happened to catch by chance when it fell out of his mouth into his lap and made Lucy laugh like a maniac next to him. Gray was still shaking the icy-cold popsicle drops off his legs when the photographer informed them that it was time to resume the couple act- and that’s how Lucy ended up underneath Gray, nose-to-nose and trying not to freak out. She could hear Lyon struggling to hold Juvia back from killing the photographer, but the Lucy was fixated on the man looming over her.

“Well, this is cozy,” he joked effortlessly, like he was unperturbed.

“Gray, how can you be so calm about this? People are going to _see_ these photos, you know.” Though she was fine with the actual modeling now, it was still a little weird to be featured as one half of an item.

“Yeah, _and_? People are gonna talk regardless. Might as well give ‘em something to talk about.” Lucy rolled her eyes; he was much to dense to get it, apparently. Lucy had no care to be the topic of gossip, at least not in the sense that she was Gray’s potential lover. Gray shifted above her, and she sat up a little to help him get comfortable. She went suddenly stiff as he accidentally caught his finger in the loop of her bikini and nearly pulled the thing off, and she hastily flopped back against the towel as the flimsy fabric barely covered her modesty. It was only at this point that Gray blushed and sheepishly smiled, which totally would make it look like they were about to be getting up to some very naughty things in the photograph. Lucy’s face was afire and her eyes wide, which didn’t help the image. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“Like hell you didn’t. You’re just teasing me at this point!” she accused. He ran a hand through his hair with a dour expression, and Lucy heard the shutter clicking frantically. _We’re gonna be the talk of the whole country for years after this,_ she thought with a groan.

“Lucy, come on, I- oh shit!” As he was once again trying to shift on top of her, his hand slipped in the loose sand and he completely lost his leverage. The breath was knocked from Lucy’s body as he landed on top of her, which was a bad enough image in itself, but the divinities were seemingly having a ball at Lucy’s expense; Gray’s mouth landed right against hers; there was no mistaking the feeling of his lips. Worse, she had somehow grabbed the back of his head as he fell, making it look all the more convincing. _Gray and I are-!_

“Wow! You guys sure do take this seriously, going so far for the fans! This’ll be a great piece!” the photographer sighed dreamily. It was overtaken by Juvia’s deranged screeching.

“ _Love rival love rival **love rival-**_!”

“Juvia, will you let me kiss you? Just for the shoot, of course,” Lyon crooned as he wiggled up to Juvia, but the water mage was in no mood to entertain; his wails were lost in the rushing of water as she sent him spiraling down the beach. He landed face-first and butt in the air, and when he came up he was spitting the fine grains out of his mouth and looking downright dejected. “Gray gets to kiss Lucy but I don’t get to kiss Juvia,” he moped as he tromped back over to them with slumped shoulders and the sand raining from his spiky hair. By this time, Gray and Lucy had sprung apart and placed several feet between them, both as red as tomatoes and wiping their mouths with the backs of their hands.

~~~~~~~~~~

 Needless to say, that little photograph made the front page.

Lucy ducked out of the guild after a raucous round of teasing, clutching the copy of the magazine to her chest. Though it featured the embarrassing array of her and Gray’s spicy photos together, it was still her one and only modeling gig, and despite the context she was quite proud of it and wanted to hang onto a copy as a memento. Plus, looking back on it, she had had a lot of fun with Gray; he had so effortlessly calmed her nerves, and, antics aside, tromping around the beach with him had become a fond memory. Standing outside the guild with the roaring laughter and buzz of conversation fading into the background, she flipped open the magazine to the featurette, all the pictures of their own laughing faces under the blazing sun. While their relationship was not nearly of the nature their fans envisioned, Lucy definitely could admit that it was a good one.

“Bah, you had enough of those guys too?”

The Celestial wizard glanced up when the exact man in the photos beside her slipped out of the guild doors, looking irritated. He actually had his clothes on, with his hands stuffed into his overcoat pockets; his dark eyes were looking down at her, with that same intensity yet softness they always carried. “They were so busy passing it around and making fun of it, I didn’t even get to see the feature. You mind?” Lucy nodded and stepped closer to him, holding out the magazine so that they could both peruse the contents; though he was standing so close that their arms brushed, his breath puffing against her ear as he leaned down over her shoulder, Lucy felt nothing along the sort of nervousness or anxiety. Outside the context of the modeling shoot, gray really was just Gray; personal space really wasn’t a thing between them. That made her smile slightly. “What’s that grin for?”

“I was just thinking that we look pretty good together.”

“Oh, so you’ve finally fallen for my bewitching good looks, have you?” he smirked at her with his hand on his chin, and she laughed loudly. He joined her, and their shoulders shook in unison as they descended into a hysterical fit of snickers and giggles. By the time they settled down, Lucy was holding the magazine against her belly and tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. Gray exhaled deeply as he ran a hand through his midnight-colored hair, smiling in bemusement. “As much as a pain it was, I can’t say that I didn’t have fun. I definitely don’t wanna do it again, though, I’m tired of all the jokes.”

“Well, at least you have the reassurance that if you fail at being a wizard, you’ve got a modeling career ahead of you,” she grinned at him, and because the comment was unwarranted, he pinched her cheek and began tugging on it.

“You’re pretty cheeky tonight, aren’t you?”

“Ow! Gray! Cut it out, I’m sorry!” she whined while trying to swat his hand away. He sniffed in mock disdain before releasing her, and she tenderly rubbed her reddening skin while he grinned in that devilish way of his. “You’re right, though. I’m afraid Juvia’s gonna murder me in my sleep, and all the girls keep pestering me about going on a date with you!” she laughed lightly.

“Yeah, as if. We’ll both end up in a grave for that,” he snorted, then cast his gaze up at the night sky. The clouds were drifting lazily by the full moon and the stars twinkled like the light playing across the waves they had played in. “Still… I wouldn’t mind going back. To Crystalwake, I mean. Under normal circumstances.”

“Yeah. I had a good time. Just no pulling off my bikini top this time. You may like to lose your clothes, but I don’t.”

“Asshole,” he smirked and shoved her in the side of her head. Lucy grabbed her head, but was smiling; she knew that Gray’s gestures and teasing, though rough, were just his way of showing affection. He chortled too, then put his hands behind his head. “So, now I gotta walk you home, right? Isn’t that the rule after you kiss a girl?”

“Technically, you did it wrong. You’re supposed to kiss her on her doorstep,” Lucy quipped as she tucked the magazine into her bag and clasped her hands behind her back, whirling on her heel to skip a few paces down the cobblestoned street. “Still, I guess I’ll cut you some slack and let you walk me home, but don’t try anything funny, mister.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she heard him chuckle behind her, and his boots made light clicking noises as they struck the stone walking after her. Lucy hopped up onto the rock wall overlooking the harbor as she always did, her arms held out on either side of her for balance as she strode along, silhouetted by the starry night and the glittering ocean as Gray walked alongside her.

 _Crystalwake is beautiful, but I don’t need to go to some fancy beach to have fun with you._ She kept that thought to herself, as Gray would likely make some smart-aleck jibe about it. Lucy didn’t know if what she had with Gray would one day develop into anything more or not; she wasn’t really in a state that wondered, either. She was content with their playful friendship for what it was, and that brought her enough joy in itself. 


	9. Stars in Your Eyes

Category: Romantic Fluff

Characters: Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia

Lucy’s eyes were lidded with sadness as she sat curled up among the roots of the towering tree, one of many sheltering her and her friends within the kingdom of Stella, which had so quickly turned into a hostile environment after their attempt to secure the Dragon Cry. As their enemies hunted them, the haggard wizard party had fled into the safety of a nearby forest, hoping that the darkness of night and the shield of the thick canopy of leaves and interwoven branches would be enough to hide them from prying eyes, at least until they were ready to try once more to steal the staff. However, even that was no longer so simple; if they stole the staff, the kingdom would be destroyed as the cosmic energy absorbed by the crystals over hundreds of years burst into powerful force, thus erasing it from existence. As she bit down on her bottom lip as it threatened to wobble, unsure of what the right thing was to do, she pulled her knees tighter to her chest, nearly suffocating herself with how tight her body was pulled; not that it mattered, because her chest was already a tight knot of worry, making it hard to breathe. _What do we do…?_

“Lucy? Whatsa matter? Can’t sleep?” Leaves fluttered down to the dank forest floor, already littered with many fallen brethren, as Natsu’s head pushed its way through the thick blanket of leaves. He was flitting through the canopy like some sort of monkey, a ball of endless energy as always. Lucy exhaled slightly as she turned to glance over her shoulder at him, trying not to seem as bothered as she was.

“I only just got off of guard duty,” she answered simply. Natsu blinked at her in response, and somehow this compelled her to continue talking though she had not intended to in the first place; turning her head back to the loamy soil, her face fell once more into its crestfallen state. “I know our mission is to get the Dragon Cry back, but if we do, this kingdom will probably disappear…” Her melancholy words hung in the air like the speckles of dust flittered about, only visible in the patches of moonlight that spilled down from the night sky hidden behind the protective layer of green above her head. Natsu did not respond. Though he pretended to be his usual, unbothered, energetic self, Lucy had no doubt that it weighed heavily on his own mind as well.

“Come up here.” Lucy had expected him to say something at least a little reassuring, not ignore her altogether, and her sadness was briefly replaced by irritation; she whipped her head about to flash him a dour frown.

“No! I’m in a skirt!” she protested with a huff.

“Come on,” he insisted before disappearing once more into the sea of green. Lucy’s nose twitched in displeasure, and she tossed her head again with another huff, her long blonde hair lashing at the sturdy tree trunk like a whip. She was perfectly content to continue sitting on the ground… or at least, she thought so. Her body began to twitch slightly as she wrestled with the abrupt end to the conversation and the curiosity of what Natsu wanted to say to her exactly. Before she knew it, she was digging her fingers into the moss-covered bark of the tree, scowling as she attempted to climb the tree in an outfit that was certainly not suited to doing so.

“What do you want, Natsu?” she called up to him in a grunt as she pulled herself up onto the nearest sturdy branch. Natsu hopped through the boughs with ease above her head, rapidly leaving her behind. “Hey! How much farther?” she complained with a glance down at the ground below; she was already several yards up, the ground a dirty smudge of brown soil and patches of green grass dyed blue by the gloom of night. Lucy spit her hair out her face as she turned her head to return to the task at hand, slowly but deliberately hauling herself into the canopy. Natsu had vanished above the greenery, but she could spy his feet, balanced easily on a branch only just thick enough to hold his weight. Lucy approached the thickly packed swathe of leaves and pulled them apart with her hands; dew smeared across her hands, milky as the light of the moon danced over them; she thrust her head through, blinking momentarily as her eyes were blinded by the surprisingly intense light spilling from the heavens above, and immediately turned to Natsu. “What is it?”

“Here, let me lend you a hand,” he said as he flashed her that roguish smile of hers. Lucy’s eyebrows were slightly knit as she pondered what he could be up to; he was calm all of a sudden. Though he was smiling, she could see he had a serious, contemplative aura about him; she knew him well enough to sense those subtle changes in him. He extended his hand to her, and Lucy slipped her own into it, allowing him to gently pull her through the thick layers of leaves. As he did so, Lucy’s eyes were suddenly called to the night sky, and she ceased her movements altogether as she was immediately overtaken by the magnificent spectacle above her head.

The black sky was dyed sapphire by the brilliance of thousands of stars dotting the expanse, accented by lavender clouds drifting lazily just above the horizon. They twinkled like diamonds as they bathed Lucy and Natsu in their ethereal glow, clustered together like a collection of wildflowers in a meadow of blue grasses. “You said you wanted to see the stars.” In the distance, Lucy could see the brilliantly glowing crystals of Stella; they burst in magnificent rays of purple and blue and white as they vigorously absorbed the light spilling down from above, and the stars seemed to shine all the brighter lest their graceful light be diminished forever by those crystals.

“They’re… magnificent,” she whispered. She had never been so overwhelmingly awed by something before. She was overtaken by a bizarre emotion and tears flooded through her blue eyes, though if it was happiness at the fact that Natsu showed her this or sadness at the fact that this beautiful sky would cease to be if they carried out their mission, she was not sure. Perhaps it was a combination of both.

“Eh. I don’t think they’re that special.”

“Natsu!” she cried in shock and a little bit of anger, pulling herself through the green leaves that hugged her body like mud to stand at equal level with him. She put her hands on her hips as she glowered, offended by his lack of appreciation for the spectacle. He flashed her that cheeky, confident grin of his, so confident that the glare fell off her face, replaced by an expression of confusion.

“If I wanted to see the stars, I would just have to look in your eyes, Lucy.” Her mouth parted, then shut again as she swallowed slightly; the way he was looking at her was different than he ever had before. There was something burning in his eyes, but not like usual. It wasn’t the intense inferno that alit Natsu’s eyes when he was ablaze, but a soft simmer of embers, soft and yet no less intense. He raised her hand to lay it against her cheek, and she felt his soft warmth spread across the skin that she didn’t know was chilled in the first place. “Those stars will beat Stella’s any day, in my opinion.” His normally loud, boisterous voice had hushed to a low whisper full of feeling. Lucy’s hands were clasped in front of her chest as if to contain her heart which had begun to beat wildly out of pace. He stepped across the branches to stand right in front of her, nearly chest-to-chest to where she had to crane her neck back to keep eye contact with him, and he stared down at her for a moment; his pink hair absorbed the moonlight and starlight, washed in whiteness like a halo around him. Lucy then tensed as his face drew closer, and Lucy had no doubt that in her moment that her eyes widened, they _did_ contain the stars, capturing the glitter of the celestial bodies above to glimmer with a beauty all their own.

Natsu’s mouth enveloped hers like a gentle embrace. Lucy squeezed her hands against her chest as something that she had not noticed had been hiding there exploded into being like the birth of the star: _love._ The stars blinked out one by one as Lucy’s eyes drifted shut, leaving herself at the mercy of Natsu’s kiss and this feeling of hers. His fingers teased a strand of her blonde tresses, while his thumb swiped across her cheekbone like the barely perceptible kiss of a breeze, but it made Lucy’s nerves explode with electricity. As his lips moved against hers so effortlessly, like they were meant to, her trembling hand left her chest to stretch out and land against his own, her fingers fanning out as if to hold him there forever.

Natsu pulled back, but only slightly; his eyes were still only a few centimeters away as he smiled gently, still continuously stroking the side of her face. “Don’t be sad, Lucy. I’ll protect the stars, both Stella’s and yours. I haven’t failed you yet, have I?”

“No,” she smiled warmly back. “And I’ll be right beside you.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Lucy never told anyone what transpired under those stars that night, but she always remembered. She took some of those stars with her, holding them in her eyes and her heart for Natsu to have forever and ever…


End file.
